Chrysalis: Trial by Fire
by Allronix
Summary: Captured by the Queen, the only hope for the League is to discover her secrets - even if it costs Niko her life and Zachary his mind...
1. Default Chapter

Chrysalis Chapter One Chrysalis Book One: "Trial By Fire" Chapter One_"Three things see no end - a flower blighted 'ere it bloomed, a message that miscarries, and journey that is doomed."  
-Mercedes Lackey, "Threes"_

Zachary was busy readying himself for another duty shift. In the kitchen, he could hear the clanking of dishes and the hiss of running water. 

*Is it Zach or Jessi's turn to make breakfast?* he wondered, worrying with a couple of buttons that didn't want to match up with the buttonholes. 

Finally getting the offending buttons fastened, Zachary straightened and checked his appearance one more time in the mirror. Okay. 

*I hate inspection day,* he thought. *Even if I'm the one doing the inspecting.* 

He walked over to the nightstand to get his gloves, and accidentally knocked over a picture. He didn't pay attention to it as he was busy trying to get evrything regulation-perfect on the uniform. It wasn't setting a very good example to the cadets if the person running the inspection didn't have everything on right himself. 

"GV," he asked the home AI, "What's the date today? Earth Calendar?" 

"June eighth, 2104." 

Zachary shot up, paralyzed for a moment. 

"June eighth?" 

"Yes, sir." 

His stomach took a lurch not unlike the feeling of an elevator decending too fast. He didn't know what had really caused it - the date itself, or the fact that he was getting ready for just another day at the office and forgot. 

He looked back, at the fallen picture. 

Zachary picked it up off the floor. Frozen in time was a young Ranger Lieutenant, newly graduated, and trying to look dignified in his new dress uniform (only partially succeeding). Standing next to him was a pretty young woman wearing a simple, lace-trimmed white dress, and a long veil of white gauze. 

The date read at the bottom, "June 8, 2084." 

Zachary sighed and put the picture back on the nightstand. . *I'm sorry, Eliza. I'm really sorry we aren't celebrating right now. I hope you understand...wherever you are.* 

Walking out to the kitchen, he saw that Jessi was munching her toast and fruit. She gestured to an empty seat. "Good morning, Dad." 

He mussed her hair. "Morning, kiddo." 

Jessi straightened her hair out a little bit. "Zach's got some fruit cut up in the kitchen, and some toast. I'm cleaning the dishes after he's done, since I know you want to get to work early." 

"Thanks," Zachary said. "How's the science project coming along?" 

Jessi grinned. "Well, Donna's got the graphs and stuff. I'm recording the data. You wouldn't believe how just varying one element can totally change the way a plant grows." 

"Oh, I will," Zachary replied. "I missed your last science fair. I'm not missing this one." 

At this point, Zachary Jr. emerged from the kitchen, carrying his own plate of breakfast. "Oh. hi, Dad." 

Zach Jr. pushed his way past his father, and sat at the table, proceeding to wolf down his breakfast. 

*Teenagers,* Zachary thought with a smile before walking into the kitchen himself. Life went on, and so would he. 

Out the corner of his eye, Zachary saw that Jessi had taken down one of the home security cameras, and had it in her lap. Zachary stood up and watched with alarm. 

"What are you doing, young lady?" 

Jessi looked up. "Relax, Dad. It's all right. GV even showed me how to do this." 

Zachary frowned and walked next to his daughter. "Well, what are you doing to the camera, exactly?" 

"Modifying the signal so instead of sending it to GV's internal sensors, it sends the output to Donna's house. I send her my science project data that way. 

"How does it work?" 

Jessi grinned, and gestured to the chips on the couch. "Well, that over there are recording chips. The red one is a recording of the plants, and graphs of the sample data. I just take out the record chips..." 

Jessi explained the set up. Most of it involved switching a few directional chips and avoiding GV's internal alarm systems. As she cheerfully talked him through it, Zachary shook his head. Seeing Doc pull something like this was one thing. Seeing his kid pull it off was quite another. He made a mental note to ask GV if there were other tricks built in that he should know about. 

Jessi replaced the camera's cover. "Just press in her transmission code, and we're all set. See, Dad, it's simple." 

Zachary picked up the camera and looked it over. "Thanks for showing me. Maybe I'll try it myself sometime." 

Jessi put down the camera. "Dad, are you okay?" 

Zachary looked up, startled. 

"Well," she said. "Zach didn't want to bring it up, because he knows you get upset...I mean, this being the day you and Mom got married and with her being gone and all..." 

Zachary patted her shoulder. "I think I'll be okay. I've got a lot of work today. Tonight, I might take you and Zach to see a movie or something." 

"Dad, you don't have to -" 

"It won't do any good to stay here, Jessi. Remember what she used to say to you two when I was out on assignment?" 

Jessi smiled. "She started in on this imitation of Commander Walsh. I wish you could have seen it." 

Zachary laughed a little at the mental picture. "She did, huh?" 

Jessi nodded, still laughing. She squared her shoulders and dropped her voice. "'Captain Foxx, I want you to scout from here to the other end of the galaxy in the next twenty-four hours or else...'" Jessi coughed with the effort of keeping her voice twisted. 

His ribs shook with silent laughter, but he strained to keep a straight face. "I don't think the commander would appreciate that, even though it *is* funny." 

"She had a whole speech prepared," Jessi said with a shrug. "Wish I could remember it." She looked up at the wall chronometer and picked up her coat. "Well, the shuttle going to school's leaving soon. See you later." 

She kissed her father's cheek before dashing out the door. 

Zachary looked at the chronometer on the wall. He still had a half hour before he had to report in. Picking up a few chips and the security camera, he tried to repeat what she had done. 

* * * * 

It was too early when Niko's alarm clock had gone off, or at least it seemed that way. 

But she was already up, and in the shower. Shane turned over and tried to ignore the obnoxious beeping. 

"Damn it, babe," he muttered, still half-awake. "Does that thing *have* to be so obnoxious?" 

No answer. He reached over to Niko's side of the bed. It was empty, but still warm. He groped around until he found the alarm clock on the nightstand. 

His dexterity hadn't woken up yet. He missed the snooze button, and slapped the whole clock onto the floor, where it still beeped loudly. With a groan, Shane realized that he had to get up if he wanted the thing to quit blaring. 

He grumbled and turned over on his stomach, covering his head with one of the pillows. That muffled the noise, but he realized that he was now too awake to go back to a sound sleep. 

The shower quit running. A few minutes later, Niko walked out in uniform, casually picked up the alarm clock, and reset it. She shook Shane. "Come on, Shane. No sleeping in." 

"Five more minutes." 

"No way," she said with a small smile. "If *I* have to be up, then so do you." 

"I just *had* to start sleeping with a morning person." A muffled sigh, and Shane turned over. "At least I get to wake up to a pretty face." 

Niko blushed. She didn't think she'd ever get used to hearing him pay her compliments like that. 

A quick kiss, then Niko pointed to the bathroom. "All yours, love." 

"Thanks." 

With much reluctance, he got up from the bed, and headed towards the bathroom. 

Niko padded out to the kitchen, and started to brew a *strong* pot of coffee for both herself and Shane. 

Relaxing back in her chair, she stretched her muscles, and looked out the window. The sunrise was actually very pretty, painting all the clouds in shades of pink and orange. 

_*Wonder if she's making coffee...*_

The intrusive thought-whisper startled Niko from her musing. Damn it all, weren't her shields working? 

She sighed, and consciously blocked off her mind. She wasn't "hearing" Shane's thoughts, at least for now. With a mix of annoyance and fear, Niko realized that she had been having more and more difficulty with her "Gifts" lately. It was minor, but the fact that she wasn't able to fully shield herself was cause for concern. Shielding used to be instinct, something as natural as breathing. It used to be that she had to consciously let down the shields so that she could use her natural psychic gifts. 

It had started, she guessed, when she was fitted with the Series Five implant. Using it allowed her to pull on more power than she'd been trained to use. At first, it just allowed her to increase her abilities. Like a muscle that had grown strong with use, after two years in the field, using her special gifts had required less implant power. Now, she was using the implant more to shield herself, and activating it to let *down* the shields. Same amount of charge needed, just refocusing it. 

That was something she could manage. What she couldn't manage was this new ability that had manifested itself. When she had left Xanadau, she had only the barest ability to sense the thoughts of others. She had been told that since it hadn't manifested itself during adolecence, it probably wouldn't manifest itself at all. 

They were wrong. 

Shane had a latent Thought-sensing ability. It wasn't powerful enough for him to use unaided, but there was one assignment where he had no other option but to try to "send" he a message. He would have died if they found him any later, either by the *Laredo's* guns, or by his own changeling ability. 

The contact had triggered something in both of them. It was barely noticeable in Shane's case. With Niko's still-growing psychic Gifts, the Thought-Sensing ability surged in growth to catch up with her FarSight and telekenetic abilities, growing wildly out of control. At first, the only one she could sense clearly had been Shane, then she started to "hear" the occasional stray thought from Zachary and/or Doc. Now it seemed that she had to be constantly shielding against that, and, it wasn't only the guys she was having to shield against, but just about anyone she came into contact with. 

It had gotten a lot worse over the past few months, no doubt a result of Shane and her moving their relationship to a more "intimate" level. They both felt a need to keep their affair a secret, though. At this point, the only one Niko really trusted with the good news was her mentor, Ariel. Ariel had *encouraged* her to pursue the relationship, after all. Despite the secrecy, though, they were both glad they took the plunge. 

She was still sitting at the kitchen table with a far-away look on her face when Shane emerged from the shower a few minutes later. 

He was toweling off his hair, wearing the black shirt and jeans he'd come over last night with. "Hey, Niko..." 

He caught himself in mid-sentence and walked over to her. "What's the matter? Shield going bad?" 

She looked up at him with a troubled expression, "Oh, Shane, I..." 

He sat down with her. "It's okay. You should talk to Q-Ball about it so he can do something with the implant. You don't have to tell him about us." 

"I'm not sure about modifying the implant. After all, it's still experimental. I really don't want to risk a modification to it if I can help it." 

"Niko, I don't understand. I know how powerful that new ability is." 

"Which is why I don't really want to use it, Shane," she said, a little sharper than she would have liked. "I already depend on my implant a little too much. To depend on it more...I'm not sure I like the idea." 

"What about Xanadau?" 

Niko thought about it. "I already filed for a leave of absence, but I don't know when it would clear." 

He sat in the chair next to her. "I just know how hard it is on you, babe. I hate to see you running yourself ragged when you don't have to." 

"I think I'll be all right," she said. "But thanks for caring." 

"That's what friends are for," he said, a lopsided smile lighting up his face. 

"Friends and lovers." 

He laughed. "Well, we're living proof that it's a pretty fine line between the two sometimes." 

He leaned over and kissed her again. When he finally broke it off, he gestured to the chronometer on the wall. "I've got to go back home and get in uniform, Niko. We don't exactly want Zachary asking questions, do we?" 

"Or worse," Niko chimed in, "Buzzwang. That thing's got to be the snoopiest creation Q-Ball's ever come up with." 

Shane laughed. "Anyway, babe, I'll see you at base." 

He walked out the door, letting it slide shut behind him. 

* * * * 

After the inspection was over, Zachary walked back to the recreation lounge to get himself another cup of coffee. He walked in to find Doc at a far table, engrossed in his own cup of coffee, and the latest technical journal. 

When the door hissed open, Doc looked up and put down his datapad. "Hey, Zachary. How was inspection?" 

"Either I'm getting old, or they keep recruiting them young," Zachary said, walking over to the coffeepot and pouring a fresh mug for himself. "A few of the new cadets aren't much older than my son." 

Doc grinned. "Just tell yourself you're twenty-nine and holding." 

"Yeah right, Doc," Zachary said before sitting down with the coffee, and pulling out a datapad of his own. 

"Thought you usually did your paperwork at home or in your office, Zachary," asked Doc. "Something wrong?" 

Zachary looked up. "Am I being obvious?" 

"I've never known you not to be," Doc answered. 

The door in the front of the room opened. Doc and Zachary turned to see who had come in. Shane and Niko were talking quietly as they entered, his arm around her shoulder in a way that might have been friendly if one wasn't looking at the rest of their body language. The two younger Rangers sat on a couch near the holoviewer and continued their conversation, seemingly oblivious to their colleagues. 

"Young love," Doc chuckled. "Strange stuff." 

"Well, what about you?" Zachary teased. "Don't tell me you haven't been hit." "Been hit, got burned," Doc said. "It was great while it lasted, though. I suppose I could be called 'sadder but wiser.'" 

"What was she like?" asked Zachary. 

Doc thought for a moment. "Crazy...but great while it lasted. " 

Zachary decided to change the subject. "I heard something from Powell today." 

"Oh?" asked Doc, perking up a bit. Powell was a cadet that had been mentoring under Doc for a few months now. Mentoring was the primary form of education that the Kiwi used, passing skills from master to apprentice. When put in practice at BETA, field officers mentored cadets, giving them the necessary "hands on" skills to work when they were put out on their own. 

"He tells me that you just passed up another shot at promotion." 

Doc sat back, somewhat deflated. "Oh, that." 

"Come on, Doc. There are folks who think you should have been a field captian three years ago. They want to kick you up the ranks." 

"But I'm refusing to let them, I know," said Doc. "Command's just not my thing." 

"Still, rank has its privleges." 

"And its drawbacks. I don't want to be promoted out of the field. I love what I'm doing a little too much. Besides, I'm not the command type." 

"Still, there's nothing quite like having a team of your own," said Zachary. "I know how nervous I was to take the reins." 

Doc shrugged. "Seriously, I really don't want to become a desk pilot before my time. Spent a few too many years behind one trying to get my Ph.D." 

Zachary nodded. "I know how that works, especially for Specialists." 

"Yeah. Give them a chance, and your illustrious career gets buried under 6 feet of paperwork. Besides, I couldn't ask for a better group of people to work with." 

A lengthy pause followed. Doc broke it by changing the subject. 

"So," said Doc. "Back to my earlier question. What's up with you?" 

Zachary smiled a little. Typical Dr. Hartford diversionary tactic. Duck the question, smile, then change the subject with such an invisible charm and grace you didn't notice it until it was too late to return to the original subject without sounding like a fool. Sometimes, it was a trait that got on Zachary's nerves, but he had come to accept it and actually enjoy playing along. It was pretty obvious by now that the computer hacker had said all he was going to say concerning his status in the ranks, anyway. 

Zachary looked sadly at the wedding band on his finger. "Today is...or was supposed to have been, my twentieth wedding anniversary." 

"Geez," muttered Doc. "You got hitched young." 

Zachary tried to laugh, but it hurt too much at the moment. "I don't know. Twenty-two didn't seem so 'young' at the time." 

"Twenty-two," Doc thought. "Nope. You never do think you're young at that age. Eighteen, Nineteen, you know it. Hit twenty, though, and suddenly, you feel like you're up on everything." Doc then laughed. "True wisdom doesn't catch up until you're at least thirty-five. Which means, I've only a couple years left to act like a complete fool." 

Zachary laughed. "What about forty?" 

"Plan retirement and start panicking because your kid wants to use the land cruiser." 

Now Zachary was really laughing. Zach Jr. was taking driving school, and asking to borrow the land cruiser almost daily. 

"I don't know about retirement, Doc," Zachary answered. "I've put some away for the kids in case something happens to me, but I'm not thinking too much about retirement." 

An announcement over the intercom interrupted the conversation. "Series Five Team, report to Commander Walsh's office." 

Zachary looked over the room, "Duty calls, everyone. Come on." 

Commander Joesph Walsh was reading the security brief that his aide had given him when the door slid open, admitting the four Rangers. 

Walsh made no secret of being proud of the Series Five Team. They were the best agents BETA had to offer, and any objections to their conduct or unorthodox methods were balanced out by the end results of their missions. 

He took a head count. Dr. Walter Hartford, the top computer scientist in the Ranger corps, possibly the whole League. There always seemed to be an air of "stage magician" to Doc's bearing, as if he was going to reach inside his belt pouch and pull out a rabbit rather than his CDU. Despite (or perhaps because of) his easy-going disposition, could be a very skilled diplomat if the situation warranted. 

Trailing right behind Doc was Specialist Lieutenant Niko, the mysterious young woman whose psychic abilities were only matched by her skill at martial arts. She had no surname, no records prior to entering the Ranger Academy, and sometimes Walsh had to wonder if the girl was even full human. 

She stood next to Ranger Lieutenant Shane Gooseman, possibly the most controversial addition to the team. There were still Senators and high-ranking officials who wanted to put the former Supertrooper in a cryogenic coffin. Walsh had his own reasons for sparing Shane, a few of them personal. 

And the motley trio was led by Captain Zachary Foxx, whose orderly manner and by-the-book approach seemed to make him an odd choice for the job. Then again, Walsh remembered, Zachary also had demonstrated the potential to go rogue on occasion. Whether it was because of the loss of his wife, or due to the influence of his team, Walsh really couldn't say. 

Walsh nodded tersely. "Good. You're all here." 

"What's on the table today, Commander?" Doc said, flashing his trademark grin. 

"We need you to go to Tortuna and pick up an informant." 

"What is he doing on Tortuna?" asked Zachary. 

"He's on the run from the Queen. He knows the current status of the Crown fleet," Walsh said. "She's been up to some rather suspicious activity lately, and we need to find out what she's planning." 

"What kind of information do we have, Commander?" asked Niko, crossing her arms. 

"That's the problem. Virtually nothing. Our usual informants have stopped reporting. Crown Communications are virtually nil, and this has been going on for the past eight weeks." 

"Maybe the Queen's taking a vacation," Shane commented dryly. 

Walsh ignored Shane's comment. "The Crown lost most of her fleet when she tried to attack BETA last time. She was down to about thirty percent of her previous strength at last report." 

"The only drawback to that," Zachary observed. "Is that we also took a pounding in that battle." 

"That's why she's resorted to attrition tactics," grumbled Walsh. "Lots of hit and run attacks along the Border. Even though her ships aren't really designed for those kind of tactics, they still have caused a lot of damage." 

"I know," said Zachary. "We've lost a few ships. A lot of good men, too." 

"However," said Walsh. "The border's been quiet these past few weeks. That could be a good sign, but there's been no information coming our way. We can't even listen in on her communications. It appears that the Crown is going for silent running for some reason we have yet to discover." 

The screen behind Walsh's head flickered, and the picture of a Dathian man flashed up on the screen. Dathians were humanoid, with blue-tinged skin and dark hair. This Dathian was short and wiry, typical of his species. Dathians were one of the few species who were willing members of the Crown Empire. Their physiology made them incompatable with the Psychocrypt, but they served in the Queen's army, and their homeworld was a primary technological and ship-building center for the Empire. 

"This man is Kerr Orthallan, a Crown military officer who deserted from the Crown Royal Guard. He has been sending to Crown military secrets to BETA for six months. In exchange, BETA has granted his request to defect to the League, as well as granting him political amnesty." 

Shane was unimpressed. "What has he done?" 

"Several raids on Gherka, commanded the fleet that destroyed the *Defiance* and the *Admiral Rekel* ten months ago...even commanded a Destroyer during the Kirwin raid two years ago. He almost gave the Queen eighty human Slaverlords." 

Zachary winced. There had been eighty-one human captives at the Crown palace. Rescuing them had been his team's first mission. 

"So why are we rescuing this creep?" Shane said. 

"According to previous information, there's been a concentration of the Crown's forces in a few sectors near the border. The concentration and patterns of the skirmishes seem to confirm this, as wel as the fact that they've stopped. He claims that he has reports that quite possibly singal an imminent Crown invasion." 

"An invasion?" asked Niko. 

"Her forces have been stuck down so far that she'll use it as a last-ditch strike at BETA," Walsh said, "We know that she's coming, and we've arranged our own defenses on the border, but there is the question of when and where the Queen will try to strike," Walsh answered. "Right now, we're spread very thin due to the skirmishes. I don't have to tell you that the Crown's got more fire power at her disposal than we do, even though she's been knocked down a few pegs." 

"And this Orthallan has information about that?" asked Doc. 

Walsh nodded. "Or so he claims. Without this information, BETA won't be prepared when she does invade. She raises an armada and attacks one or two sectors, BETA won't be able to stop her before she takes a border planet." Walsh nervously smacked the palm of his hand with his command wand. "When she does, she'll no doubt increase her forces by Psychocrypting the human population. If that happens, then the League would probably crumble within days." 

"With all due respect, sir," said Zachary. "Should we trust someone like Kerr Orthallan, or even grant him amnesty?" 

"That's not your jurisdiction, Foxx," Walsh said gruffly. "We need this information. Just go to Tortuna and pick him up. Geezy's got access to the safe house. You have twenty-four hours to make the pick-up and return." 

They left the briefing room, on their way to the ship. On the way, Zachary stopped at a communications relay. "Go on ahead. This will only take a minute." 

The others nodded and continued while Zachary punched in the code for GV. "GV?" Zachary asked. 

The blue and green eye flashed up on the screen. "Yes, sir?" 

"GV, are the kids home?" 

The eyeball bobbed up an down in an imitation of a nod. "Yes, sir. Both of them." 

"Good. I've got a message for them." 

"One moment, sir." 

A second later, GV's icon was replaced with the faces of Zach Jr. and Jessi. "Hi, Dad," Jessi said. 

"Hello, you two," Zachary answered. "Look, I'm not going to be home tonight." 

"Another mission?" asked Zach Jr. 

Zachary nodded. "Yes. With any luck, I'll be back by tomorrow." He smiled. "Just keep the house clean and get dinner for yourselves." 

"Can you tell us about it when you get back?" asked Jessi. 

"I'm afraid it's one of 'those' kind of missions, Jessi," Zachary answered. "But don't worry too much about me. I'll be back." 

"Good luck, Dad." Zach said. 

"Bye, said Zachary. "Love you both." 

"Bye, Dad," both of them answered before cutting the transmission. 

With that, Zachary walked down the hallway quickly in order to catch up with his team. He caught up with them at the lift, and all four of them were on their way to the Recharge Chamber and the shuttlebay. 

* * * * 

Zachary silently piloted Ranger One, sending the other three to the back to prepare. Once they had donned the flashy robes and scarves marking them as Zanguil peddlers, the other three Rangers spent the remaining time with a deck of cards. 

Doc was grinning under the blue scarf. He stared down Shane from across the table. "See your raise and up you five." The hacker put a few more chips in the pile. 

Shane stared down his opponent for a long time, looking for any sign of weakness. Finally, he got annoyed and lay down his cards. "Fold." 

Doc lay down his hand. Three useless cards and a pair of fours stared back. "Gooseman, I really need to teach you how to play poker." 

"If I wasn't playing with a smart-ass..." Shane began, picking up the cards and re-shuffling the deck. 

"Well, you didn't exactly work your way through school by dealing cards in a tavern," said Doc. 

"I didn't know you used to work as a card shark, Doc," Niko said. 

Doc leaned back. "I didn't. Friend of mine did." 

Niko shook her head and counted her chips. So far, the men were bleeding her dry. "There's just something about this assignment that doesn't seem right." 

"No kidding, but it's what we've been trained to do. BETA says, 'Oh gee, the Queen is getting under our skin,'" commented Doc. "'But we don't want to send in the troops. Let's send in our special suicide squad!'" 

"Hey," Shane said. "There are worse jobs out there." 

Doc shrugged. "True, but you ever get the feeling that we're just overglorified kamakasie pilots?" 

Shane started to deal out another hand. "You get used to it." 

Niko wasn't paying much attention to Shane and Doc's banter. A outside thought-voice echoed in her head. 

*I have to stop thinking about how much I miss her. I have a mission to do...* 

The thought-voice was Zachary's. Niko shook her head. Damn it...why did she let her shield drop? She shielded in a split second, so that she stopped "eavesdropping." 

*Gods,* she thought. *I really must watch that.* 

She looked up at the cockpit. Zachary was flying silently, already dressed in his peddler's garb. He seemed to be staring off into nothing, as he often did. 

She asked Shane and Doc, "Guys, is something wrong with Zachary?" 

Shane looked at her warily, but Doc quietly answered the question. 

"Yeah. It's his twentieth wedding anniversary, and you guys know how he is about anything relating to his wife." 

Niko scowled. "I'll bet going to Tortuna to pick up Captain Orthallan isn't helping much." 

Shane said, "I think he needs some time alone. Piloting the ship gives him something to concentrate on." 

"It's actually a tough call," said Doc. "Maybe staying clear would make it worse. I think if he gets through today, though, he'll be fine." Doc cleared his throat. "Anyway, talking behind someone's back like this is definitely NOT proper. Deal the cards, Goose." 

Niko got up. "You two play. I'm out of chips." 

Niko walked up to the co-pilot's seat, and sat down. She took a moment to slip into a trance and work on her shields. She couldn't afford to have them fall on her when they arrived on Tortuna. Today was really a bad day, and having an off day on Tortuna could be fatal. There was one thing she could do for "insurance," though. She felt for her waist, and pressed the gold star underneath her parka. 

It didn't take much power, just a quick burst. She concentrated. Ground and center....then shield. She formed the mental image of herself surrounded by a gold, glowing light and concentrated on it until she was certain it was complete. No one would notice. 

She brought herself out of the trance. The shield was temporary, a "quick fix," but it would last long enough for them to make the pick-up and leave. She didn't like having to draw off the implant's energy to keep the shielding up, but it was better draining the implant than endangering herself and her colleagues with a gift gone rogue. 

Niko looked over to the pilot's seat. Zachary was still working on the ship's controls silently. 

"Zachary," asked Niko. "Are you all right?" 

The words seem to unfreeze him. He relaxed a bit in his chair. 

"Doc told me about today," she added. 

Zachary took in a deep breath. "Yeah. I told him this morning." He turned to her and afforded her a smile. "I'll be okay, Niko, but thank you for coming up here." 

Niko smiled gently. 

"The three of you help me more than you know," he said quietly. "It doesn't hurt as badly when I have you guys to take care of." 

"Really?" asked Niko. 

"The three of you are like another family," he said, touching her shoulder. "I may have lost Eliza, but in some ways it feels like I adopted three more children." 

Niko was a little surprised that Zachary said it aloud. He was something of a stoic, especially when he considered himself "on duty." 

"Really?" she asked. 

"I hope you don't take offence to it," Zachary said. 

Niko shook her head. "Of course not. I don't mind the thought of being 'adopted,'" she said wryly. 

He turned to her, his movements much more fluid. "The scary part about it is that Ambassador Skye thought you *were* my daughter." 

Niko was surprised. Skye was an ambassador from Jouret Five, a human colony recently signed into the League as a planet of its own. He was a sweet old man who went out of his way for guests and gladly topped off the treaty signing with a large gala. It was actually more of a vacation than an assignment. 

"Really?" 

Zachary smiled. "I really didn't know what to say for a few seconds. I told him that you weren't related to me. All he said was that you were somebody's daughter." 

"Somebody's, but your guess is as good as mine. I don't remember anything before waking up on Xanadau. Ariel said that she 'found' me, but when or where, she still hasn't said." 

"Does it bother you? Not knowing where you came from?" 

Niko sighed. "Not really. Goose is the one who wants to know everything he can about his background, and who can blame him?" 

Zachary nodded silently. 

Both Shane and Niko were orphans. Niko just simply never knew how she'd been found by the Circle, and by Ariel, the odd-looking woman who mentored her. Zachary recalled Ariel as being quite charming, albiet eccentric. He also had seen Niko's adoptive homeworld of Xanadau. It was an incredibly lovely place, full of fields and trees. He'd been told later that he was the first "outsider" to see the planet in a long time. 

By contrast, Shane's "parents" were nothing more than anonymous genetic donors, donating their DNA to help create ultimate soldiers. If he let himself think about it, the idea made Zachary physically ill. Creating children and designing them to kill was a chilling prospect. It was a joyless life those Supertroopers had led - small wonder they'd all gone outlaw, except for Shane. Even he was a bitter, angry young man at first, trusting nothing and no one. Shane wasn't as harsh or as wary as he was two years ago, and Zachary knew Niko had a lot to do with it. 

He knew why Shane and Niko were trying to keep the true nature of their relationship a secret. To the brass, personal feelings were a liability in battle. Human emotions didn't lead to tactically sound decisions. Soldiers were expendable - lovers and friends weren't. 

On a personal note, though, Zachary wished them the best. They had both seen so much strife and isolation in their young lives. If they'd found comfort in each other, then to hell with what the brass thought. 

An alarm sounded, and Zachary punched in the order to drop from hyperspace. The red and brown planet of Tortuna gleamed below them. 

Zachary stood up, and turned around. Once the mission began, he was a different creature entirely. He addressed the team. 

"All right, everyone. Geezy should be waiting for us once we touch down. We'll most likely be using the underground tunnels to get into the city. More than likely, we'll get Orthallan out by the same route. Keep your blasters set on max. If this is a trap, I don't want to take chances." 

Ranger One touched down behind a ridge, a few kilometers from the Great Dome. The platform descended, and the Rangers walked out, onto the dry, hot desert surface. 

Doc looked up and down the valley. "I don't see Geezy anywhere." 

"Funny," said Zachary. "I've never known him to be late." 

There was the sound of metal grinding against rock behind them. The Rangers spun around, blasters ready. 

A door was opening in the rock. A very-well hidden door. If one hadn't been scanning for it, one wouldn't know it was there. A four-fingered hand poked out from the small crack and opened it further. A yellow, elephant-like trunk soon followed. 

Geezy cursed, and pushed the door a little more before he was able to pry it open enough to get through. 

He waddled up to the Rangers, and said, "Oh, you again." 

"You were expecting someone else?" asked Shane 

The joke was lost to the Pegelount. "This way, Ranger Hummings," grumbled Geezy, motioning the four into the hidden door, and making sure to seal the passageway behind them. 

"Tell me what you know about the Crown forces, Geezy," Zachary asked the Pegelount. 

Geezy brushed a spider's web away. "Not much, Hummings. Queen is keeping secret lately. My usual informants can't even bribe her guards. All I know is that she seems to have a lot fewer Slaverlords about." 

"I wonder why," Zachary wondered aloud. 

"Beats me," Geezy answered, punctuated by a sigh trumpeted through his trunk. "All I know is that three years ago, there used to be hundreds of Slaverlords in Tortuna. The number's dropped to only a few dozen. The spydroids have taken over the job, though." 

"That does sound odd," Niko said. 

"It's just my observation, Hummings," the Pegelount warned. "I know she's desparate for Slaverlord materials as the League has cut off her supply. Perhaps she doesn't want to put the Slaverlords in a vulnerable spot." 

"What can you tell us about Kerr Orthallan?" asked Shane 

Geezy frowned. "Not much. He came to me six months ago. His information is good, and he *was* a Crown Guard Captain. He maintained the Tortunan Palace when the Queen was somewhere else. He's a brutal one to prisoners. A real nose-wringer." 

Geezy reflectively rubbed his short trunk. Zachary wondered for a moment if Geezy had crossed paths with Orthallan before. 

They walked up a metal flight of stairs up to another metal door recessed in the wall. "We're at the street. I'll take you as far as the building." 

Geezy opened the door, and the Rangers stepped out into the city of the Great Dome. 

Tortuna was a place where paranoia was a way of life. 

Zachary pulled the heavy cloak around him tighter. The Zanguil garb always seemed too thin a shield between his team and the Psychocrypt. He'd been there once, and wouldn't wish it on anyone, especially anyone under his command. 

Geezy warily eyed the spydroids. The Pegelount was familiar with the streets, the pattern of the pink, all-seeing robots. 

*Geezy's right. There's more of them.* Zachary noticed. The number had definitely increased since their first arrival on Tortuna two years ago. One could hardly cross the street and not have their actions recorded by a pink sphere. 

*..."It was a bright, cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen...Big Brother Is Watching You."* 

If it wasn't the spydroids, though, it was Slaverlords, and the fewer of either Zachary had to deal with on any trip to Tortuna, the better. 

They came upon the city outskirts, to a particularly ramshackle hovel that used to be an apartment or boarding-house. 

"This is the place," Geezy said. 

"You going in?" asked Doc. 

The Pegelount shook his head. "No way, Ranger Hummings. I stay safely out of the way. Big ears, big tears. Remember - you never saw me." 

Niko checked her blaster. Out the corner of her eye, she saw that everyone was doing the same. Cautiously, they entered the shabby building, and walked up to the stairs. She was getting a very uneasy feeling about this. 

"So far, so good," Shane said, still keeping his hand near his blasters, and not taking any chances. 

Orthallan's hide out was in a typical Tortunan apartment building. The windows that weren't gaping with holes were boarded up, and the doors locked three different ways, at least one of the locks broken by forced entry or lockpicking. Evidence of vermin was everywhere, and trash stacked up in reeking piles. What wasn't typical of the building was the noise, or lack of it. You could hear the whizzing of the spy droids outside. Suddenly, a rat ran across the floor and across Niko's boot. She jumped and stifled a startled gasp, then reflectively jerked up her boot, and kicked the offending rodent clear across the hallway. 

"Great accommodations," Shane commented sarcastically. "Dozen and a half roach motels each floor." 

Doc laughed uneasily. "I've lived in worse. Besides, the sign outside *did* advertise free meals." 

Zachary looked back over his shoulder. "Quiet it down, you two." 

They arrived at the door. It was on the top floor, at the end of the hall. Great place for a trap. 

Niko spoke up, "Zach, I don't know about this.... I'm getting a real bad feeling..." 

"I know, Niko," Zachary answered. "I don't like this either, but the information is vital." He turned to Shane. "Goose, watch our backs. This could very well be a set-up." 

Shane nodded. Zachary took a deep breath and knocked on the door, using the code Geezy had specified. 

It seemed to take forever for the door to open. When it finally creaked open, and a tall, thin humanoid with pale blue skin peered out. Zachary recognized him from the holos as being Kerr Orthallan. He had something of a world-weary air to him, fatigue showing on his long face. 

"Zanguils?" The man frowned. 

Zachary gave the alias he had been told to use. "I'm Jorel, you have what my associates and I ask for?" 

The Dathian nodded. "Very well. You know my payment?" 

Zachary nodded. 

"Then come in," Orthallan invited. 

Shane eyed the man warily, but he also kept a keen eye on the hallway behind them. 

The Rangers slowly walked into the room. Zachary and Niko went first, Doc came in after Niko, and Shane brought up the rear. After Shane was inside, Orthallan closed the door 

They looked around the room. Niko was very uneasy. Something was definitely not right....she tried to pass it off as just nerves. She always had a bad feeling about Tortuna, but it was even worse than usual. 

She was tempted to lower the shields and try to sense Orthallan's intentions, but she didn't dare. First, she might not get anything out of the Dathian at all. She could sense some sort of shields. Dathians, she remembered, hated telepaths. Second, with the gaggle of minds in the city, trying to use that gift would be like grabbing a Poe Mutant Sensation Doll with both hands. It would wind up backfiring and crippling her, putting everyone in danger. 

The room didn't help. All the windows were boarded up, a door at the other end of the room was likewise boarded up. The only thing in the room was a filthy mattress and a battered nightstand. It was very dark, except for thin rays of light coming in through the cracks in the boards. It would take too long to blast out the boarded up windows, and then, there was no fire-escape to climb down. It was just too good a place to not be a trap. 

"Nice place you got here," Doc commented, looking at possible escape routes, and growing tense at finding none. 

"A fugitive has no luxuries," the man said. "I am Captain Kerr Orthallan, Royal Guard." He looked steadily at Zachary. "And you must be the esteemed Captain Foxx I have heard so much about..." 

Under the scarf, Zachary frowned. He didn't want to make a positive id. "Possibly." 

Orthallan nodded coolly. "Wise. Very wise. The Queen has chosen her enemies well." 

"We're here to hear whatever you have to say," Zachary said, "And then take you back to BETA." 

Orthallan rose from the mattress and inspected the Rangers carefully. "What I have to say is simple, Captain. Dead men tell no tales." 

There was the sound of splintering wood, the whine of blasters, and the cracking of plastic as the walls fell away, revealing that they were hollow and fake - filled with Crown Troops. 

"An ambush!" yelled Zachary. Everybody, fight an escape route!" 

The rangers already had weapons in hands and were quick to obey their captain. They stood with their backs to each other. 

Shane growled and began fighting the robots with his bare hands. Zachary was already starting to shoot, but there were way too many guards. Doc was shooting into packs of soldiers, hoping to scatter them. Niko was doing the same, felling a few in the process. 

"Get them!" yelled Orthallan, hiding behind a pack of soldiers. "Look out for the badges!" 

Shane was plowing his way through the tangle when he turned and realized that he was surrounded. There was a huge crack and Shane winced and stumbled back. He slapped his badge, and the pain deadened, but more shots were coming, and it was starting to drain him. Pretty soon, he wouldn't be able to hold out. 

Niko saw Shane trapped in the corner. He had taken a lot of hits, and was a too busy struggling to see a robot guard raise its blaster and aim it right at him. Niko rushed the guard and smashed its helmet with the butt of her shotgun. She fired almost blindly, picking off guards, but more flooded in. 

After smashing another robot, she whirled around to see three guards raising their blasters. Before she even had a chance to activate an energy shield, the blasts hit her, and she was unconscious before she hit the floor. 

"Doc! What about your tweakers?! Can they do anything to help us out here?" Zachary called out over his shoulder. 

Doc would have to stop shooting to get them out. Could he take the chance? 

"I don't know which of 'em are robots," he said. He decided to take the chance. It seemed to be their best option under the circumstances. "Cover me, Zach!" 

"Right!" Zach answered, and tapped his badge, activating his Thunderbolt. 

He sent the Thunderbolt towards the door, the yellow energy burst shattering the door. the wooden door burst into flames. The dry, old, and ill-maintained wood started to blaze like kindling. 

This forced other legions of Crown Guards back, but it also trapped the Rangers in an inferno. With no way out, all four of them would die of the smoke and the blaze. 

Zachary was burning with a dark rage. He didn't care. Death was better than the Psychocrypt. 

A loud crack, and a startled human cry. Zachary whipped around to see the five holograms flickering and dimming, and their wielder lying unconscious on the floor. Doc had been hit, falling just inches from Zachary's heels. 

"Zach! We've got to get out of here!" Shane called to his captain. 

Zachary grew even more harshly determined. "The building's on fire. No chance." 

Shane punched another Guard. "Been an honor serving with you, sir." 

Orthallan called out from his secure spot, "Surrender, Galaxy Rangers, and maybe the Queen will have pity on you." 

*I've had enough of the Queen's pity, Orthallan,* thought Zachary. He activated his badge again. The Thunderbolt shattered the wooden floor, taking Shane, Zachary, and half the guards crashing to the basement. 

There were more guards waiting on the first floor. All fresh, and all armed - too many of them. Some of them worked on putting out the fire, and surrounding them. 

Shane was staggering. The Crown guards were overwhelming him, and Zachary couldn't see him, only hear the sounds of struggle in his general direction get fainter and fainter. 

Guards armed with gas guns and blasters came in...two or three new to every one he was able to take down. They had him up against the wall. No escape. More shots. It didn't knock him out, but sent him reeling off-balance. Zachary managed to activate his wrist communicator, and pant in a last command. "Foxx to GV - Condition Black Arrow! Repeat Black Arrow!" 

He turned to face another group of opponents, but only met with the business end of a blaster pistol, and the purple-blue beam coming right for him. 

A huge crack, and every nerve in his body sang with hellish pain for a spilt second eternity before he finally blacked out and collapsed to the floor. 

Orthallan straightened. "Everyone take them," he said. "And get a medical team. We want healthy Slaverlords, after all." 

[Part 2][1]

[Return to fanfic index][2]

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   [1]: http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Set/4721/gr/chrys2.html
   [2]: http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Set/4721/gr/fanfic.html



	2. Chapter 2

Chrysalis - Part 2 Chapter Two Pyre_"Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage... I have freedom in my love, and in my soul am free..."  
-Lovelace _

Niko moaned as she bleared awake. Where was she? 

She was sprawled in a dimly lit room. The floor beneath her was smooth and hard. 

Between the dim light, and her throbbing headache, it took some time for her eyes to adjust. She heard someone else breathing in the room. 

She could now see two sprawled forms in the room. The darker one, who lay close to the door, groaned and sat up. 

"Someone get the registration of that frieighter..." 

Niko jerked up. "Doc?" 

"Niko?" Doc's voice was weak, but steady. "That you?" 

"Yes, it's me. Are you okay?" 

"I've had hangovers more pleasant than this, but I'm okay." 

They slid close together, and turned over the third figure. 

"It's Shane," Niko said. 

Doc scanned the room. "I don't see Zachary." 

"The Queen probably put him in the Psychocrypt already," Niko said darkly. 

Doc was looking over the still-unconscious Shane. "Strange. They must have stunned him good. He's the one who normally recovers first." Feeling down Shane's arm, Doc felt a lump near Shane's elbow. "Hold on...This feels like a needle mark." 

"A needle?" Niko asked. 

"They must have drugged him," Doc said. 

A short time later, Shane stirred a bit and groaned. 

"Shane," Niko said, taking his hand, "It's Niko. Are you all right?" 

Shane shook his head. "Weak...thirsty. I woke up...bit earlier. Guards held me down. Someone stuck me with a needle." He tried to get up, but bit back a groan, and slumped back to the floor. 

"Could you guys...help me up?" 

Doc and Niko pulled Shane to a sitting position between them. He mumbled something, then rubbed his sore arm. "I think I'll be all right. Biodefenses take a while to kick in without the implant. I was...designed to shake off most kind of poisons..." 

Doc looked his cellmates over. The Zanguil outfits were gone, replaced by short-sleeved black fatigues. "Great, and they snagged everything," he said, adding sarcastically, "Best of luck with my CDU - that thing's under so much encryption that I'm the only one who can use it." 

"The Queen's probably dissecting our badges as we speak," Shane said, starting to sound a little stronger. 

"Did you see Zachary when you were awake?" asked Niko. 

"No. I'm not sure if he made it through the raid. Last I saw of him, he'd collapsed quite a bit of the building..." He stopped himself. "Maybe there's a way to find out, though. Niko, can you sense anything?" 

Niko's stomach took a lurch. Already, she could sense something very omnious, and without access to her implant's power, her shields would deteriorate... 

She forced herself to calm down and try something simple - sensing her cell-mates. 

But a dark shield surrounded her, making her unable to sense anything except her own mind. She concentrated, but couldn't even get a light trance. 

*What's happened to my Gifts? I know I'm not THAT dependant on my badge.* 

She battered against it, but it was like a wild bird flapping fruitlessly against the iron bars of a cage. She kept pounding at it, but was unable to go anywhere but outside her own mind. 

And the same force could read *in* her mind. 

She pulled back when she felt hands on her shoulders. "Niko?" 

"I can't..." she gulped. "I can't use my powers. There's something...or someone blocking my abilities." 

At that moment, the cell door opened, admitting Kerr Orthallan and several well-armed Crown Guards. The Rangers hurriedly got to their feet, and readied themselves. This might be a chance to escape. 

The Dathian had changed his shabby clothing for a crisp black and purple officer's uniform, and he glared at the captured Rangers with a menacing smile. 

"I see you are awake," he said. "Good. The Queen will be pleased." 

"Well, she always did want a matched set," Doc quipped. 

A guard suddenly lashed out with his foot, catching Doc in the ribs. The Ranger fell back with a heavy "oof." 

"I know about you, Ranger Hartford, and I don't appreciate your sense of humor," Orthallan said. 

Niko and Shane helped Doc up. He shrugged off their hands, but still clutched his side. "I'm okay, guys." 

"You say that now," said Orthallan, "But she will destroy you one by one." 

"Where's our captain?" Shane said, close to a growl. 

Orthallan thought for a few seconds. "Oh, your captain?" he asked. "Well, the Queen would have considered him a prized Slaverlord, but I'm afraid that he did not survive the journey here." 

The Rangers didn't want to believe him, but what other explanation could there be for the three of them to be thrown in a cell? 

Orthallan backed out of the cell, and shut the door behind him. "I pity you, Rangers. Your troubles are only begining." 

* * * * 

Geezy returned to the scene of the bombed-out building. Already, hordes of scavengers, thieves, and opportunists were combing the wreckage, making off with anything and everything of value. 

They concentrated on the fallen guards, taking metal, robot parts, and slashing the throat of the rare Dathian guard just to make certain they were dead. 

The Ranger Hummings were long gone. Off to some sort of prison. Which one, Geezy didn't know. 

Pulling aside a plank, Geezy found the torn and singed remnants of what had been Orthallan's cloak. Under all the rubble, it had been spared the inferno. Next to it was a small bag. Geezy opened it. The sack contained three small silicon chips. 

*Must have dropped during the fight,* Geezy thought, pocketing them quickly. He knew what they were, all right. He'd have to go out to the Queen's main palace in the asteroid belt to deliver them. 

"Hummings." he said with a trumpet of contempt. "Nothing but trouble. But more trouble if I leave them." 

He waddled out, past the other scavengers, keeping the chips clutched tightly. He had a flight plan to make. He was off to visit the Graveyard. 

* * * * 

Zachary bleared awake, disoriented and unsure of anything. His whole body ached, but he was alive. How? What happened? 

Something wasn't right. He was lying on a soft bed with a thick comforter. A comfortable feather pillow rested beneath his head. 

"Where am I?" he wondered aloud. 

He slowly started to pull himself into a sitting position, his head throbbing in protest. It was then he realized that he was covered by the comforter. "What the--?" 

He blinked in surprise, and pulled the comforter off him. His eyes were beginning to adjust to the dim light in the room. Once the comforter was pulled away, Zachary took notice of his clothes. His Ranger uniform was gone, replaced by the uniform of a Crown military officer. The bars and pips on the uniform, though, corresponded to the same rank of Captain. 

He took a deep breath and steeled himself. This was going to hurt. 

Zachary tried to sit up, and was jolted by an awful wave of pain and nausea that threatened to make him either vomit or pass out. He sat still for a moment, wavering on the edge of nausea, and waited impatiently for it to pass. 

Cradling his head in his hands to stop the pounding headache, Zachary tried to replay the last thing he remembered over and over, looking for some sort of idea of where he was. 

Tortuna. They were supposed to pick up an informant, but it hadn't gone down well. It was a trap. 

Kerr Orthallan was still a Crown agent. The room was packed to the gills with troopers. A fight followed. They'd been overwhelmed. Doc was hit in the back with a stun blast. Niko was reaching for her badge when another blast hit her. Even Shane couldn't run. 

The last thing Zachary remembered was telling GV to blast off and return to BETA, condition "Black Arrow" - Situation hopeless, do not rescue. 

*But, why the uniform?* he wondered, *I still have my own mind. We were captured by Crown forces. I should be a Slaverlord by now...* Then, it hit him. *My team? Where are they?* 

"Doc?" No answer. 

"Niko?" Again, no answer. 

"Goose?" Still, no answer. 

He was starting to get worried. *Oh, God,* he thought *Don't let them be Slaverlords...* 

He forced himself to quiet his racing mind. *Quiet. I can't afford to panic. Not now - not ever!* 

He sat up and looked around his "cell." He was lying on a soft bed with a thick comforter. Several ornate, dim lamps gave off soft light, glinting off a bottle of congac and a couple glasses set on an ebony desk. 

He struggled to his feet, and almost passed out again. First things first, see if he could get out of the room. Staggering over to the door frame, he felt it for any sort of control panel, handle, knob, or any way he could open it. He found none. Zachary inspected the bedding - the sheets were too thick to tie in any kind of knot. 

*So, it's still a cage* he thought. He could really use one of Doc's snide observations right about now... 

He put his ear to the door, but heard nothing. 

Why was he kept alone? Why wasn't he thrown in the Psychocrypt right away? After all, the last time he'd been alone in this place, he'd been tossed in the Psychocrypt within a few minutes of waking up from the guards' stun beams. 

He bit his tongue, trying *not* to think of that experience. If the nightmares about Eliza weren't bad enough... 

After hearing nothing on the other side of the door, Zachary inspected his "cell." It looked almost like an expensive hotel room, if not for the lack of a window or the sealed door. The glasses were breakable - that might come in handy later. The lamps were useless, being recessed into the wall. The congac might be good to start a fire, but would it do any good? That door was probably fireproof, and there was nothing he could use to ignite it. 

"Just where am I?" he wondered out loud. 

Zachary picked up the chair. It was ornately carved, but the wood was too light to do anything much with. 

Maybe pounding on the door might get some action. He walked over to the door, and knocked on it. No answer. 

Zachary pushed himself up behind the door frame. Maybe someone would come in. He could use the element of surprise to jump them and get out. 

He waited and waited, but no one came... 

*What?* he wondered, *Were they just going to leave me here?* He exhaled. Being alone here was starting to make him paranoid. 

And why in this room, instead of a regular cell? 

And where in HELL were his team? 

He sat back on the bed and tried to think of something, anything that would make sense of the situation. 

In a central chamber, the Queen monitored Zachary's movements around the room. She smiled evilly, and decided to let him stew on his worries and doubts for a while... 

"You've served me well, Orthallan," she said. 

The Dathian bowed and answered stiffly. "I endeavor to serve your highness in any capacity." 

"Bringing me all four of the Series Five team is a great accomplishment," she said. "I shall see that you are properly rewarded." 

"When do you plan to throw this one in the Psychocrypt?" Orthallan asked. 

"I have...other plans for this one," she said. 

"Your highness?" Orthallan asked. 

The Queen stared at Orthallan angrily, "Are you challenging me, Captain Orthallan?" 

"No, your Majesty." 

"What of his team?" she said. "Have you prepared them?" 

Orthallen nodded and said, "Yes, your majesty. I have told them that their captain is dead, as you ordered," he said. "I have not begun the tortures as of yet." 

The Queen nodded. "Take one of the men first. Do not start on the female, Niko, until I am present. I want to be there to oversee her torture myself." The Queen smiled in a way that chilled Orthallan to the bone. "I have something 'special' planned for her as well." 

Orthallan reflectively staggered back. He was relieved when she stopped smiling and nodded to him cooly. "Anything else?" 

Orthallan said, "I shall inform your highness when the first Ranger is ready for his session." 

"Very well. That is all. You are dismissed, Captain." 

Orthallen bowed deply from the waist before quickly leaving. 

It was relatively quiet at BETA Space Station. By now, everyone had heard the rumor that the Series Five team was late in reporting in. Whispered speculations and harsh admonitions from senior officers became the usual chatter around the station. 

In the traffic control area, Eorl'Li, a Kiwi technician, sat next to his human friend, Colin Ross. 

"I don't know," said Ross. "Wier told me that they'd been captured." 

"We haven't heard anything concrete," said the Kiwi. "So until then, I plan to think positively." 

"Typical Kiwi answer," Ross said, switiching back to his controls. 

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Eorl'Li asked, his long ears perking up with curiosity. 

"It's just that I've never known a Kiwi pessimist, that's all." 

Eorl'Li smiled. "There are a few of us, but while humans struggle, we cherish the end of struggle." 

"Yeah, well, the end of struggle means you might lose your job," Ross quipped. 

"Good," said the Kiwi. "Then, I could go off and farm." 

"Geez, Polyanna," Ross teased. 

The Kiwi was puzzled, the points of his ears drooping. "Pollyanna?" 

"Old Earth story. Gotta tell you sometime." 

A bright light flashed through the viewports of the control room. Ross's eyes went straight to the controls. 

"Ship coming out of hyperspace. Run an ID." 

The Kiwi punched up the data in the computer banks. "It's Ranger One." 

"Beta Space Station to BETA Mountain. Station to Mountain. Do you copy, over?" 

"This is BETA Mountain. We copy. What is your message?" 

"We're detecting Ranger One on our short-range sensors. She's just come out of hyperspace." 

"Good. We were getting worried. What's their request?" 

Eorl'Li looked down at his monitor, read it again, and frowned. "BETA Mountain, we're getting something unusual. Ranger One's coming in under automation." 

"Automation?" The voice on the other end was disbelieving. Ships rarely flew solely under automation unless... 

"Hail them, Station." 

"No response, Mountain," said Ross, "There's an emergency beacon going. It's requesting permission to land at the mountain." 

"Granting special clearance to Ranger One," the Mountain technician answered. "Radio it and tell it's clear to land at Platform Three." 

"Will do," said Ross, typing in the necessary code, and sending it to the ship. 

Ranger One sailed past, and went into a landing configuration. Eorl'Li looked over at Ross. "I guess you were right." 

"Yeah," said Ross, "But I wish I wasn't." 

Walsh ran from his office when he heard that Ranger One had come in under automation. His mind was cooking up all sorts of scenerios, none appetizing or pleasant. 

By the time he got to the shuttlebay, all sorts of technicians, a team of Series Two Rangers, a few military officers, and a full battery of scanning equipment were surrounding the ship, examining every nut and bolt. The hatch to the cockpit was open. Walsh tore through the crowd and stormed aboard. 

The captain of the Series Two team, Ranger Scott Raleigh, saluted the commander briefly as he came aboard. 

"There's no one aboard, sir," Raleigh reported. "The Zanguil costumes are missing, as are five blasters." 

Walsh nodded. "I know that Gooseman preferred carrying two blasters. Any signs of forced entry?" 

"None sir, and nothing vandalized or stolen." 

"GV," Walsh barked to the computer. "Status. What happened?" 

The blue and green eyeball bobbed on the screen. "At 14:18 Local time, I recieved the following message from Captain Foxx." 

The last transmission played in the background. 

The obvious sounds of a struggle could be heard in the background, but overriding it was Zachary's strained voice. "GV, blast off! Condition Black Arrow!" The rest of the transmission was cut off by several loud crashes, some chillingly human-sounding yells, and the sound of blaster fire. 

"I followed his orders to return. Based on this, and the lift-off of a Crown Transport shortly before I entered hyperspace, I hypothesize that he and his team were captured by Crown forces." 

Walsh stepped back, and stood rigidly. 

A younger technician gasped and backed up reflectively. "Oh, my God..." 

Walsh felt the same horror, but he couldn't afford to show it. That was the LAST thing he wanted to be faced with. 

Raleigh gestured to his team. Much to his credit, he immediately started to bark orders. "Coller, run a voice check. I want to be certain that it's Captain Foxx. Aakel, supervise the technical crew. We want this ship ready to fly again as soon as possible." 

"Report to me in my office at 19:00, Raliegh," said Walsh. "Bring me everything. From there, I'll be formulating what to do next." 

*Preparing for the worst,* Walsh mentally added. 

He activated a com channel. "Commander Nagata, I need to speak with you immediately." The synthesyzed voice echoed through Walsh's wrist communicator. "This is Nagata. What is it, Joseph?" 

"We have a problem, Owen. Four Black Arrows." 

"Black Arrows?! Oh, no...the Series Fives?!" 

"Come to my office in fifteen minutes, Owen. We have a backup plan to make." 

* * * * 

Geezy had managed to convince his friend, Prodush, to take him to the Queen's Asteroid Palace. The other Pegelount was carrying a food shipment to the Palace. 

"So why did you ask for passage, Geezy?" 

"Best if I don't tell you." 

"Humming-related?" 

Geezy only stared silently out into space. 

Prodush trumpeted cynically. "By the Great Paldildo, nothing gets by you, Geezy." 

"Product of one too many interrogation droids. Information smuggling is profitable, but it isn't without hazards." 

"I'd rather stick to legitimate trade," Prodush said. "Less profit, but fewer enemies." 

The communications light came on, and a metallic voice barked over the system. "This is a Classified Crown Base. State you business or be blasted." 

Prodush hit the communications panel. "Crown Base, this is Captain Prodush aboard the *Whispering Batfly,* I'm bringing aboard a shipment of food for the base." 

"*Batfly,* we have scanned and confirmed your cargo. Prepare to come aboard." 

A tractor beam hit the Pegelount ship, and they were pulled into the launch bay. Prodush turned to Geezy. 

"Remember. Twenty minutes. Any longer, and I can't make excuses for you." 

Geezy trumpted an affrimative. "I won't be late." 

* * * * 

"What is it, Slave?" asked the Guard. 

Geezy sniffed cautiously. He sighed in relief. A robot. Those were almost too easy to fool. He was familiar with this prison, especially the cell blocks. 

Why the hell was he doing this for those Ranger Hummings, anyway? 

Because Hummings, like Gherkins - were as good as dead as soon as the Queen got a hold of them. These Hummings were not only protecting themselves, but the remaining Gherkins as well. They also helped him rescue the Psychocrystal of his cousin Neb. Geezy owed this to the Hummings, if only from one smuggler to another. Besides, when this was over, Geezy could hop on Prodush's ship and go home to Tortuna. He knew how to get in and out - provided one had a few extra Crowns and some stealth. 

Geezy held up the tray. "Food ration for Hummings. Queen doesn't want prized Slaverlords starving to death." 

The robot scanned Geezy. It only looked for weapons. Geezy's key chips would hardly count as a weapon. 

"You may pass." 

Geezy trumped a little sneaking past the guard, and into the cellblock. 

There were many cells, all occupied by creatures of various races, all imprisoned for "special" reasons. Near a guard's station at a corridor junction, however, was the cell he was looking for. 

He showed the meal to the guard. "Meal ration. For the Hummings." 

These guards were real this time. Geezy tried to size them up. It had been a long duty shift for them, and probably a very dull one. 

"Lemme see," said the larger one. The smaller of the two guards walked over to the tray, and looked on it. Three ration bars. 

"It's nothing suspicious," he answered. "Just ration bars." 

"You suppose the Queen wants the humans fed before she tosses them in the Psychocrypt?" the larger asked. 

"I dunno, but she'd sure be angry if we let 'em starve. Besides, it's ration bars. Hardly enough to feet a rat." 

The larger one laughed. "Send the Pegelount along." He glowered at Geezy. "You have five minutes in the cell block. Cell eighteen. No funny business." 

He disabled the forcefield, and Geezy waddled down the corridor. 

The small hatch at the bottom of the cell door slid open. A tray slid in first, followed by a pale yellow elephant-like trunk. 

Doc got up first and waled over to the door. He knelt by it. 

"Geezy?" 

"Oh, good. It's the Ranger hummings." 

"Yeah, Geezy. What's going on?" 

"I put a couple of stolen chips in the ration bars. They have codes to disable the forcefield and access the shuttlebay," said the Pegelount. "Best I can do, Hummings. Would take an army to bust you out, and an army is what I don't have." 

"Wow. Thank you, Geezy." 

"It's all I can do, now I have to go." 

There was the sound of footsteps as Geezy left the cellblock. 

Doc pulled in the tray. "Guess what, guys. We just got ourselves a break." "Well," said Shane. "At least it's food." 

"Better than food, my Gooseman. Our waiter was Geezy." 

Shane and Niko perked up. Doc took one of the ration bars and broke it open. Baked inside was a small silicon chip. 

"Like a hacksaw inside a birthday cake," Doc said with a wink. "Now to plan an escape." 

Doc wiped the sticky rations off the coating on the first chip. "I think this one is a map of the cellblock..." 

Orthallan walked up to the Guard station, three guards in tow. "I've come for the humans. The Queen has authorized me to take one of them." 

"Special treatment?" asked the smaller one. 

Orthallan paused before answering. "That isn't any concern of yours. Now, disable the forcefield" 

The guards diabled the forcefield, admitting Orthallan and his entourage. 

Doc had managed to get the three chips out of the ration bars, and the rations were spilt equally among the three Rangers. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. 

"I'll need to find an access panel in the cell," said Doc. "From there, it's a matter of rewiring. How are you two holding up?" 

"Pretty good," said Shane. "I can walk. I could run if I really pushed myself." 

"Prepare to push yourself, friend," Doc said, clasping a hand on Shane's arm. 

Their planning was interrupted by the bright light of the door sliding open. Doc kicked the chips into the corner. 

It was Orthallan again, along with guards. 

He looked over the three prisoners, then turned back to the guards. "The Queen has plans for the girl. Take him," he said, pointing to Shane. 

Doc and Niko ran in front of the guards attempted to shield him, but the guards shoved them away, and cornered them against the back of the cell with their rifles. 

In his weakened state, the other guards subdued Shane rather easily. One was armed with a hypodermic filled with a red liquid. Managing to immobilize Shane's arm, the Guard injected it, and he went limp. 

"Works like a charm," the officer chuckled. "A little something the Queen had saved for Killbane." 

As Niko and Doc stood helpless in the cell, the guards dragged Shane down the long corridor, to an uncertain fate. 

* * * * 

Zachary started to get mad, and looked up to the ceiling, at the hidden camera no doubt concealed in the ceiling. "I know you've got to be listening, Your Majesty," he sneered, "Just what the HELL do you want from me? and WHERE are my team?" 

A swish, and bright, almost blinding light filled the room. 

*All in good time, my darling Zachary...* 

The voice...*it was in his mind!* He bolted to his feet. 

It was his nightmare come to life. The Queen walked in, flanked by two slaverlords. The one on her left shimmered and rippled. Zachary reflectively stepped back, and fell onto the bed. A ghost-like Eliza replaced the left Slaverlord. 

"A happy anniversary, Captain," the Queen said with an evil smile. "How good of you to come here to celebrate it." 

Zachary growled, and fought to keep his temper. This woman *really* tried his patience. "Where are they?" Zachary said, trying to ignore Eliza's Slaverlord. 

He was NOT going to give her the pleasure of letting her know what kind of emotions she stirred up by parading in Eliza's Slaverlord. On reflex, though, his eyes met the ghostly ones on "Eliza." The look on her face was heart-breaking. 

He hadn't the will to tear his eyes away from the ghostly Eliza. He missed her...Oh, how he missed her. 

"Your team," the Queen purred. "Are all in my custody. They are not Slaverlords...yet." 

"I can't trust you," he said. "Why am I here? And WHY am I in this uniform?" 

"All in due time, Captain. All in due time. In the meantime," she purred. "Consider yourself an honored guest." 

"An honored guest," Zachary spat. "Is that what you call my wife, too?" 

The Queen smiled, but didn't reply. 

"Don't be tiresome, Captain. Your resistance has already exacted a toll. Come with me. I have something to show you." 

The Guards' rifles at his back and front didn't leave Zachary much of a choice. Another guard snapped a pair of restraining cuffs on him, and he was pulled out of the room, and down a long corridor. 

"Where are you taking me?" Zachary demanded 

"You'll see, captain. You'll see." 

Zachary could only walk and wait. 

The corridor led to a closed door, patroled by two guards. The door opened as the Queen approached. 

The Queen ordered her Slaverlords, "Take him to the viewing platform. I have...other matters to attend to." She spun on her heels and left. 

*Viewing Platform?* What did the Queen want him to see? 

The Guards prodded him through the door, which seemed to lead out onto some sort of catwalk. With every step, Zachary felt the mood in the air grow more and more omnious. He didn't want to reach their destination, wherever that was... 

He had heard two guards talking amongst themselves, and the words "torture chamber" mentioned. Zachary was already trying to steel himself. It wasn't the first time he had been at the recieving end of the Queen's "tender loving care." 

Midway through a catwalk, the guards, and the Slaverlords stopped, and Zachary looked down. 

Beneath him, enclosed by polished crystal windows, was the Queen's Torture Chamber. Zachary looked down, and shivered when he realized what was happening. 

"This," said the Slaverlord, speaking with the Queen's voice. "Is what happens when you disobey me. You will not pay, Captain. But your subordinates will. I'm bringing them out one by one..." 

Zachary looked down, and saw that the torture chamber itself was split into sections, with a glass wall between them, made of the same substance as the ceiling. Zachary guessed them to be two way mirrors. 

The smaller of the two chambers was semicircular, and painted a sterile white. The second was more rectangular, with a pair of manacles hanging from a track on the ceiling, manacles designed to confine the most powerful Sentients in the galaxy. 

Both chambers boasted a wide-variety of pain inducing devices, ranging from the ancient and exotic, to a collection of knives, whips, and cudgels. 

There was also an astonishing and terrifying array of electrical shock devices, air constrictors, neural stimulators...all the latest equipment. 

The first victim was wheeled in. He'd been stripped down to the underclothing, and was chained to the wall. 

Zachary's heart lept into his throat as he recognized the limp form. 

"Goose," he whispered. "Oh, no." 

The technicians and the officer in the room hovered over him, then started to adjust the controls on some equipment that Zachary recognized as an electronic pain inducer, capable of measuring pain right down to the nerve voltage, and capable of delivering fatal voltages with alarming frequency. 

Zachary tried to close his eyes, but a kick from one of the guards startled him. "Watch and learn, Ranger." 

All Zachary could do was watch...and feel his heart sink to the floor. *I failed them. They're being tortured becaise I failed them.* 

It was the white room again. It looked like a morgue. Orthallan and a technician in a purple coverall bustled around the variety of medical equipment, monitors, cameras, and bottles of noxious chemicals. Shane was chained on one wall. Across from him was what appeared to be a full-wall mirror that encompassed the ceiling as well. 

The room was semicircular, and the walls not covered by the mirror, or left blank to chain up prisoners were loaded from floor to ceiling with huge cabinets, computer consoles, and what Shane could only guess to be some sort of monitoring equipment. 

"What the hell is this?" Shane asked, a low growl in his voice. He didn't have any strength. "Luxury accomodations?" 

Orthallen turned on his heels and stormed over to Shane, backhanding him hard across the jaw. "No talking, prisoner!" 

Orthallan went back to the tray of instruments. Shane saw that he had an empty hypodermic. 

"More of the red stuff?" he asked. 

"No," said the man in the uniform. "Sorry, Galaxy Ranger. Not today. Something a little better." He filled up the hypodermic with a pale green substance. 

"Argasil," Orthallan said, almost casually. "You do realize how it kills?" 

"No," Shane admitted honestly. 

"It's a neural stimulant. It kills by making a person hyper-sensitive to stimuli. A noise can tear eardrums and burst blood vessels. A small fright can cause the heart to stop, and the body to go into physical shock...psychic energy also increases, causing backlash and burn out...but you needn't be concerned with that. When we inject a little of this into your girlfriend, however..." 

Shane's eyes widened. Niko...oh, no...if they put that stuff in her...especially with her shields being on the blink...if she were lucky, she'd die instantly. 

"However," Orthallan said quietly. "If you wanted, I'm sure we could make an arrangement. You agree to go to the Psychocrypt, and I *could* arrange for your friends to be spared." 

"Not likely. You'll hurt them, too." 

Orthallan nodded. "All right, then." 

"Setting twelve," Orthallan told the technician. "Increase the bursts by intensity and duration at regular intervals." 

Suddenly, the chains surged with electrical energy. At first, short, intense, and painful bursts, then the bursts started getting larger. 

Shane pulled against the straps holding him to the wall, and cried out as the electrical shocks increased in frequency and in pain level. 

The Dathian hovered over him, his expression neutral and unchanged. "You can't win against the Crown you know. My offer still stands." 

Shane coughed once, then spit in the Dathian's face. 

"I see," said the Dathian, wiping the spittle off with his sleeve, and feeling Shane's arm, hypodermic ready. "Well, in that case..." 

Without ceremony, Orthallan plunged the needle into Shane's arm and discharged the full amount of the drug. Immediately, it started to work, as Shane's tense muscles started to cramp. 

Orthallan walked back over to the technician. "Let's go to the maximum setting, and see how he handles it." 

From almost out of nowhere, the Queen walked in. She was flanked, as usual, by two slaverlords. "That's enough, Captain!" 

"Your highness," he said. "I was just doing what you ordered." 

She cast a harsh eye on her subordinate, "I noticed, but I have other plans for this human...or should I say, Supertrooper." 

Orthallan's eyebrows perked up. "Supertrooper? Small wonder he was able to survive the last dosage." He stepped back, eyes raking the blonde man over. "So this is what BETA's prized animals look like. Not bad." 

Shane growled, "Just wait until I get my hands free, THEN we'll see just what I can do." 

Orthallan refilled the needle with another measure of Argasil. "Shall I ready him?" 

"Just one moment," she said, snapping her fingers at the two Slaverlords, who drifted over to a tall cabinet, and pulled out a large, helmet-like device. The Slaverlords silently drifted over to the Queen and placed it on her head as if handing her her official crown of office. 

Shane felt a shiver go up his spine. He saw the MindNet device, a perfect replica, complete with the smaller module. 

"Oh," the Queen said. "You recognize this device? Handy, isn't it? Especially when one knows its potentials." 

Shane didn't answer. The last time he had faced anything like a psychic onslaught, his biodefenses had protected him, but that was a long time ago and at full charge. The drug in his system wasn't helping much, either. His biodefenses were working on the cocktail of poisons in his blood, so they'd be useless against this. 

He had to try and fight the Mindnet. Shane tried to remember some of the things Niko had told him about shielding his mind. It seemed so long ago that they'd sat on his apartment floor, and she was trying to teach him a few of the basics. Something about grounding and centering... 

He closed his eyes and tried to remember. *Try to find a spot in your mind where you're completely safe...* 

The Queen nodded to Orthallen to give Shane the injection. There was a jab at his arm as the needle went in. Something that felt like molten lead flooded his body... 

At first, his biodefenses countered it, but then, Orthallen gave him a second injection. Then, almost immediately, the poison began affecting him. This one burned from the moment it entered his veins. 

He truly began to struggle against the bonds holding him. "I'm not finished yet, your majesty," Shane hissed. 

His rage only sped up the poison as it coursed through his veins. His breathing was starting to become labored, and every twinge of pain was enhanced by the poison. 

A muscle spasm brought on by the poison knotted his gut. He doubled up, biting back a groan. 

The Queen smiled and said, "Oh, you won't die, Galaxy Ranger, but, you'll wish you had by the time I'm finished with you." 

He had to watch himself. If he could stay alive, there might be a chance to save Niko. 

The Queen smiled. "Still thinking of sparing of your ladyfriend, I see. A pity. Love is quite a detriment when dealing with me..." She walked up to him, and touched his face in an almost maternal fashion. "Don't worry. I know how much she cares for you, and you for her. I have plans for her..." 

She activated the MindNet. The jolt of red-purple light surged from it, hitting Shane full on. Despite his best effort not to scream, a cry tore from his throat, as something inside him ripped open. 

He found himself fighting the Queen on what could only be called the psychic plane. The outside world faded, replaced by an intense spiral of his own mind. The Queen surrounded him, chaining him in bonds tighter than the ones inprisoning his physical self. 

In this arena, he was seriously outmatched. Supertroopers were never designed for combat inside their own minds. 

The Queen was pulling out every memory of his that he shared with Niko. Shane tried to resist, but the more he fought to keep that part of him safe, the more the Queen invaded. 

*NO!* 

Meeting her the first time...the sound of her voice...talking to her for long hours in the interceptor...Scarecrow...standing a vigil by her bedside after she'd been attacked...fighing side-by-side with her...the "welcome back" hug she gave him after he came back from the Texton computer...the budding telepathic link that developed between them...kissing her for the first time...running his fingers through her hair as they made love... 

The Queen smiled maliciously, *Oh, yes, Ranger Gooseman* 

Shane was more terrified than he'd ever dreamed of being before..Every thought, every memory, was being pulled from him as the side-effect of the poisons opened his mind up completely to the Queen. 

At the other end of the link, he could sense Niko's presence. She was trying to get to him, calling out as the link pulled her in, too....was he dreaming this? 

Could he still help her? 

He tried to retreat, tried to find that place where he could ground and center himself. But, the Queen kept coming at him. Oh, why hadn't he payed more attention to what Niko had been trying to teach him at the time? 

He was unable to stop the groan that escaped him, he felt like his chest was on fire. Between the drugs, the telepathic invasion, and the memory purge, Shane was fighting for every breath. This was worse than any physical torture. This was striking at the very core of him, and making matters worse, a part of him *knew* that he wasn't suffering alone 

*Give up, Galaxy Ranger,* the Queen projected into his mind, *You can't win. I can rip your mind to shreads, and leave you fit only for the Psychocrypt.* 

He wished there was a way to fight back, to put the Queen on the defensive. The only one that could help him was Niko, but calling out to her would put her in danger as well. He would rather die than do that to her. 

*Niko, I'm sorry.* he thought mournfully. 

The Queen smiled, and said, "You wish to have her join you? Then, by all means, let's allow her to join us." 

At the Queen's nod, Orthallen had left the room, with another hypodermic in his hand. 

Shane suddenly realized his mistake. He shouldn't have thought about Niko... "Wasn't this what you always feared, Supertrooper?" purred the Queen. "She'll suffer because of you. Everything you touch dies and suffers. You never wanted to accept that you are a killing device." 

He was helpless, drugged, and weak. A wave of humiliation and despair washed over him. He couldn't stop the Queen. He could only struggle pathetically against the iron grip on his mind, only know that the Queen was gaining all the weapons she needed from him. 

She was right. Everything he touched would suffer and die - even the woman he loved. 

When the Queen's next attack began, Shane cried out more from mental anguish than the fire overwhelming every nerve in his body. 

Doc had a fistful of wires he'd pried from the panel on the wall. There were cuts on his hands from prying the panel from the wall. If there was any chance of disabling the alarm system so that they could escape quietly, this was it. 

He disconnected the main circuit. Now, to rewire it so that the computers didn't realize it. If he had his tweakers, he could do this within seconds, provided he could disable the Slaver programs the Queen's systems used. Manually, it was slow going. 

Doc squinted. The dim light was making this even worse. He chewed off the insulation around one wire, and spit out the rubber-like synthetic. Now, he was ready to twist two wires together to make the first bypass. 

Suddenly, Doc heard a short moan. Niko slumped in a corner, and put her hands over her face. 

He turned around. "Niko? Niko, care you okay?" 

Her eyes opened, and they had the same glassy appearance as Shane's when they first woke him up in the cell. "I'm...not okay, Doc. My shields..." 

"I thought you couldn't sense anything." 

"She's...I'm sensing what she *wants* me to sense...through the link..." 

Oh, hell. Doc didn't have a clue about this psychic stuff. If it had program code, he had an idea on what to do. These kind of mental talents put him at a total loss. He didn't even *understand* Niko's abilities, much less help her now. 

"Niko, what's going on? What's this about a link?" 

"Let me...try to shield out something first." She sat still for a few moments, then seemed to recover a little. "I...don't like it, Doc. I've been developing Thought-Sensing abilities...with all the use, my Gifts are a lot stronger than they were two years ago. They're getting...too strong for the implant to control fully." 

Doc wasn't expecting THIS. 

"I could shield and keep them under control," she said. "But they weren't perfect. There were still gaps." Niko moaned a little, her face strained. "Oh, Gods...No...Need to shield..." 

"The Queen's using those gaps to let you feel what Goose is feeling?" 

Niko nodded, her words coming with a lot of effort. "He's...in agony, Doc. I can sense it...I'm not sure how much more we can take." 

"I'm here, Niko. For both of you," Doc said. A vague, taunting voice in the back of his mind told him that his support wouldn't do much good. 

And his "shields" were also being stripped away. Everyone was so used to seeing "Doc," his public personae of cheerful jester who could crack jokes at the drop of a hat, and break into any computer with the greatest of ease. Having to drop the appearance was somewhat unnerving as it stood. 

His biggest fear was the situation going on right now. He wasn't much of a leader, and he knew it. Still, with Zachary dead, he was apparantly next in line. He was completely at a loss as to what to do, watching his friends slowly deteriorate while he stayed healthy. 

And he'd be alone, left to die slowly. That's what scared him the most. 

*It's as if the Queen knows what makes us scared and is using it against us,* he thought. It was an awfully good hypothesis. 

"Niko," he said. "I think I know what's going on." 

"What's that?" 

Doc got up, and started toying with the wires again. They had to escape soon, or there would be no chance to try. "I think the Queen is torturing us. She's just being sophisticated about it." 

"What do you mean?" Niko asked tiredly. 

"Think about it. What are you scared about? Be honest." 

"Doc?" 

"Come on, Niko." 

Niko pulled herself to a sitting position. "I guess...losing control of my Gifts...losing control over myself...I'm certainly scared right now." 

Doc nodded. "And think about Goose. He was designed to take hits that would kill us "normal" humans. How do you think he's taking the idea of being doped up and weak as a kitten?" 

"He's never really been that way...I know he's scared, too." 

Doc concentrated on putting the wires together. "And there's me. I'll admit it, Niko. The idea of being 'in charge' spooks me. Some guys, like Zachary, are naturals. I'm not." 

"You're doing great under the circumstances," she said. 

Doc turned around. "Thanks." 

He resumed his work, and the outline of his hypothesis. "And I...haven't told a lot of people this, but I'm afraid of dying alone." 

"A lot of people are, Doc," said Niko. 

"No, I mean...I've been in a position like that." He stopped himself. "I really shouldn't talk about it when you're like this." 

Niko stifled a yelp of pain. "K...Keep talking to me, Doc. Keep m...m...my thoughts on something else..." 

Doc nodded. "I'll tell you the full story, okay." 

"Okay." 

Doc put the two wires together, and started hunting for the next wire. "Anyway," he said. "I was a Cadet. We were out on a decommissioned freighter to practice starship piloting and getting aquainted with space travel and everything." 

Doc examined the tangled mess for the next connection to make. It would have been a lot easier if he had Tripwire to help, but... 

"Anyway," he continued. "We got ourselves a few sectors away from the trade lanes so that a few of us could pilot. One of the cadets was at the helm, and I was in the engine room when all hell broke loose." 

His hands reached into the panel, and pulled a wire from its connection. "We got hit by pirates. They thought we were carrying cargo. The freighter wasn't armed or anything. We just got pounded. The instructors and three cadets were dead by the time they boarded. I...just crawled into an escape pod and hid." 

"Were you the only one who survived?" 

Doc nodded sadly. "The pirates left the ship. When I felt it safe, I staggered out. The life support had been sabotaged. The breathable air was running out fast, but the worst part of it was that there were two cadets still alive. They were mortally wounded, but there they were, asking me to help them, and I just couldn't." 

"You watched them die," Niko realized. 

"I watched them die," Doc answered. "They wanted someone to lead them, to help them, and I couldn't do a damn thing. The worst part was that I was *sure* that I'd die alone. I managed to rig up a little something that kept the life support going for a while longer, but I was told that if the cruiser reached me ten minutes later, I would have been dead with them." 

"I'm sorry, Doc," Niko said. 

"If I'm right, Niko," he countered, "Then you and Goose had better worry for yourselves. I'll be the last to die." 

Suddenly, the door was flung open, admitting Orthallan and two robot guards. The Dathian officer had a hypodermic needle in his hand."Time for the little wench to take her medicine..." 

Doc bounded in front of Niko. 

Orthallan shoved Doc aside, and had two of the androids hold him back while he had grabbed Niko by the arm and before she had a chance to react, injected her with the full contents of the hypodermic. The guards pulled away as swiftly as they'd struck, leaving Niko almost ready to collapse. 

"No!" yelled Doc, but it was either catch Niko, or attack the guards. He chose his friend. Orthallan laughed and left the cell. 

Whatever the stuff was, it was nasty. Her skin was turnring ashen, and beads of sweat started form on her forehead. 

"Niko! What did he shoot you up with?" He asked, lowering her onto the bunk. 

Niko immediately curled up into a fetal position as the drug took immediate effect on her. Suddenly, every muscle in her tensed up, and she let out a blood-curdling scream. 

"Oh, Gods... I don't know..." she gasped, in agony. "I hurt, Doc...." 

"Hang in there, Niko. Hang in there." Doc said, almost panicking himself. 

Doc didn't know a thing about the poison, nor did he have anything on hand that might tell him what it was doing. There was nothing in the cell in the way of first aid material, either. 

*What can I do, what can I do? THINK!* 

His thoughts were racing, and he shook his head. *First of all, Hartford, you can quit panicking. It's not going to do her a bit of good.* 

Niko shuddered, and groaned in agony. She wished for the nothingness of unconsciousness. Her shielding couldn't block anything out. It was almost as if it were a blanket full of holes. The outside world had fallen to pieces in front of her, leaving the wrenching agony *inside* her head. 

Through the link, she could sense Shane. He was in trouble. Big trouble....The part of her mind linking them felt like a deep, open wound. 

And...oh, Sorceress and Scholar - he was dying! 

Heedless of her own safety, Niko locked her hands on either side of her head and tried to concentrate. She had to block out the pain of her physical body...The touch of her hands on her temples felt as bad as a vise. Death would be welcome right now. 

It was like being carried downstram in a river of fast-moving lava, forcing her into deep rapport. Her mind was locked with Shane's, memories and emotions twisted and turned into pain, despair, guilt... 

In the morgue-like room, Shane groaned in despair, "Oh, no, Niko...Don't..." 

Then, the evil laughter...The Queen! 

The Queen's evil presence surged through the link. "Come, little Niko. Come see your love in agony, and watch him suffer." Her laughter sent an icy jolt through Niko. "Soon you will see who is superior." 

"Niko.... don't... let... her... get.. to.. you! PROTECT YOURSELF!! FORGET ABOUT ME!!!" 

"It's too late, Gooseman," The Queen said. "Too late for both of you. I have you now!" 

Both Niko and Shane screamed in agony as fire now coursed through the forced-link. 

It was impossible to tell where one mind ended and the other began. Memories and coherant thought were washed over in something that tasted like blood, that flashed crimson, and sounded like a scream. 

Many times, they had touched each other's minds. From Shane's desparate first contact, to the almost unconscious rapport they indulged in during loveplay. This forced joining, however, was related to those earlier mind-touches as love was to rape. Sickening, soul-destroying fear and rage, hoplessness...crimson and black...the evil laughter dominiating. Blood and fire and pain. 

It washed over everything in waves, crashing, breaking, rebuilding and crashing again. 

The wash of pain seemed to dim and fade as Shane regained awareness of himself. He was only on his feet now because of the restraints on his arms and ankles. 

When Orthallan removed them, he fell face-first to the cold tile floor. Several guards placed him on a gurney, and he looked up into the Queen's icy red eyes. The poison continued to do its work, making every last bit of his body feel like it was being torn violently apart. 

"You are mine now, Galaxy Ranger," she said with an evil smile. She ran a icy finger down Shane's neck. 

She turned to her guards. "Take him to the Psychocrypt." 

Shane blacked out for a while, and didn't remember the series of corridors and doors that they pulled him through. 

They finally reached the colossal chamber that contained the Queen's Psychocrypt. 

The guards undid the straps on the gurney. If Shane hadn't been so weak, he could have fought them off and escaped. As it stood right now, he didn't even have the strength to stand. 

They opened the door to the bright red column, and tossed him inside. Shane lay on his back, looking up at the far-away ceiling of the chamber. 

He was afraid. This was the end of the line, the end of having his own mind. In a few moments, everything would end, and he'd become nothing more than the Queen's puppet. 

*Niko,* he thought dimly. 

They always said that your life flashed before your eyes just as you were about to die. As the doors enclosed him in the cylinder, Shane watched as his mind decided to show him his own personal photo album. The Supertroopers...the academy...his life with the Rangers... 

Pathetic was the only word that came to him. 

*So many fights...so many conspiracies,* he thought. *Just one battle after another.* He glaced at his hands, hands made for killing, for fighting. For a moment, though, he could remember what it felt like to slide his fingers through Niko's hair. *I even hid from those who would have let me love them.* 

The link was still there...Oh, no...She'd suffer with him. The thought brought a different sort of ache to his chest, one not brought on by drug or by torture. 

*Did I ever tell you I love you?* 

There was a large hum and crackle, and the red light hit him. It was the last thing Shane saw before he was ripped apart. 

In the cell, Niko arched up off the bunk, clutching her arms tight around her body. She stiffened for a moment, then started to cry out with anguish. Wave upon wave of unbelieveable pain. Every nerve was alternately freezing and burning, and she shook uncontrollably with a seizure. 

She was dimly aware of Doc by her side, trying to get her to talk. All that came out of her mouth, however, were pathetic whimpers. 

The world seemed to be blinking out of existance. All she could see was bright red light. Her heart pounded in her chelt like it was trying to burst, every muscle tightened and stiffened like ropes straining under too much weight. 

It felt like part of her mind, the part of her that could thought-sense was exploding, and destroying her mind and her Gifts piece by piece. Everything dimmed but the suffering. Every fiber of her being was shredded, rebuilt, and torn again. 

There was one final surge. Niko threw her head back and screamed, then the pain spiralled more and more into a darkness where she could blissfully sense nothing. 

Doc shivered. She didn't even seem to know where she was. She was staring right at him, but was seeing something inside herself, something too horrifying for her to even articulate. Doc caught her. "Niko? Can you hear me?" 

She didn't respond. Doc jumped involuntarily when Niko's eyes glazed over. She began to shake and convulse. Her eyes rolled back. 

He put her down on the bunk, holding her so that she didn't fall. 

*Think...Have to keep calm...* Doc's breathing was ragged as he tried to think of something to do. 

She stopped shaking, and lay absolutely still. Doc looked her over. She didn't even seem to be breathing. He tilted her head back and waited. After a few seconds, she took a lungful of air. 

He got her up on the bunk, and started to loosen her fatigues. "Come on, Niko, hang in there..." he pleaded. 

She was still unconscious, but she was breathing. 

He sat back on his heels and watched her closely. He didn't know what else to do. 

"Niko? Come on.... wake up. You've got to wake up," he said, close to a panic attack again. She groaned a little, and moved her head. 

"The Galaxy Ranger Training Manual never prepared me for this," grumbled Doc as he searched frantically around the cell. A-ha! There was a water faucet in the corner. He turned the handle, and water dripped pathetically from it. 

He tore a scrap from his fatigues, and got it damp under the meager water flow. Turning off the faucet, he walked over to Niko's bunk. Feeling her forehead, his hand lept away. She had a very high fever. 

He wiped down her face and neck with the wet rag, and placed the cloth on her forehead, hoping that it would help keep her fever down. 

After what seemed an eternity later, Niko's eyes slowly opened. "Doc..." 

He exhaled, not realizing that he'd held his breath for so long. 

"Come on, Niko. Hang in there. You scared the hell out of me." 

She groaned. "Sorry, Doc." 

"Nothing to be sorry for. You were...feeling what Goose was feeling, right?" 

She managed a weak nod, then looked up at him. The look on her face was almost too painful to bear. 

"Doc, Goose is...gone. I was sensing..." 

Doc looked at her in distress. "No..." 

Niko nodded, a single tear flowing down her cheek. "He's gone. I hope he's dead, and not...I couldn't tell which. The injection..." 

"They killed him with that?" 

"That was only the beginning...He was in pain...suffering...and so close..." her voice choked. 

Doc didn't know what else to do, and said silently, *Sorry if I step over the line here, Goose.* before he gathered her up into his arms. 

His best friend...dead...or worse. Holding another friend against his shoulder as she cried. 

Doc could feel her fever burning through the cloth at his shoulder. If they didn't escape soon, that fever would probably become fatal. 

"Niko, I have to get us out of here. Do you think you could make it to the shuttlebays?" 

Niko nodded against his shoulder. "I think I can." 

"Okay," he answered. "I'll continuing hot-wiring the circuit. In just a few minutes, I'll have the alarm disabled, and an interface constructed. At least one of us has to make it to BETA." 

If she could, she could work with him on the door. That would help them both. 

Doc looked back down to find that she had lapsed once more into unconsciousness. He shook her. "Niko...Niko, stay awake...that's...that's an order." 

His first command. 

She came around with a faint smile. She was still so weak. "Aye-aye, sir." 

"That's better," he said shakily. 

Doc was almost ready to make the final connections when Niko spoke up. "Someone's coming!" 

Doc managed to replace the cover in just enough time. He sat next to Niko on the far wall of the cell. 

Orthallan entered with several guards. "Ah, good to see my favorite prisoners." 

"Good to see our favorite torturer," Doc countered acidly. 

"You can mock me for now, Ranger, but you'll learn soon enough," said Orthallan. "Your fleet will come for you, and we will be waiting." 

"Yeah," asked Doc. "Then what?" 

"The League will find out soon enough," said Orthallan. "Without any idea of where or when the Crown will invade, BETA will have no choice but to try and prevent it by invading us, and *we* are ready for that. They'll walk right into a trap. You will witness a turning point in your species' history when you stand by the Queen of the Crown as her willing servants." Orthallan smiled. 

"Go on, continue your lecture," said Doc, hoping he could irritate this jerk enough to spare Niko. He could take more abuse than she could at this point. "I hate to interrupt a meglomaniac when he's on a roll." 

Orthallan gestured to a guard who entered the cell, and smashed Doc in the back with the butt end of his rifle. Doc fell to the ground. When he looked up, he saw Niko struggling against the arms of two guards. Orthallen brushed Doc off to the side like he was nothing more than an annoying pest and had two android guards hold him back again as he hauled Niko out of the cell. 

"If you are that eager for the torture chamber, you will see it shortly. In the meantime, I'm under orders to see to your lady-friend here." 

Niko was too weak to resist. She was half-carried, half-dragged out of the cell. 

They turned around and left Doc alone in the cell. 

As soon as he was able to pull himself up, he went back to work. The Queen wanted him to be afraid, and to stew in despair. Well, he had news for her. 

* * * * 

Nervously, Niko tried questioning the guards, "Where are you taking me?" 

"Routine torture, Ranger," snarled the bigger one. 

Niko couldn't quite surpress the gasp that escaped, "Torture?" 

"The Queen's been wanting to get her hands on you for some time," answered the smaller. She could almost see him sneering under the helmet. 

She realized then, that these were not robots, but actual live people. She was shocked. She hadn't been able to sense that. She shuddered. That dark shield was locked over her mind again. 

They reached the Queen's torture chamber. All sorts of pain-inducing devices, ranging from the primitive and effective to state-of-the-art devices that could measure the degrees of pain down to the nerve voltage. 

What stood out most of all to Niko was a set of manacles attached to a large, mobile circle. The manacles moved on a track attached to the celing, able to move from the center of the room to the back wall. The wall behind it had fine needles and small spikes jutting out from it. The guards wasted no time in stripping her to the waist, then chaining her to the circle, the needles at her back. The needles were uncomfortable, but very hot. At just the right angle, she could see herself looking up into what appeared to be a giant mirror. A holocamera recorded the atrocities in the room with an unblinking eye. 

The Queen herself appeared, flanked by two Slaverlords. "Ah, my *dear* Ranger Niko, how nice of you to pay me a visit." 

"Is this how you treat your guests?" Niko spat sarcastically, drawing on the pain and loss still rawly part of her. 

"Why, my dear Niko," the Queen drawled. "That is no way to speak to your new mentor." 

"Mentor?" 

"I want you to serve me, Niko. At my side," the Queen answered. 

"Isn't that what the Psychocrypt is for? Go ahead and turn me into a Slaverlord and get it over with!" Niko challenged defiantely. "Or why don't you just murder me like you did Shane!" 

"No, my dear Galaxy Ranger, that would be too easy," the Queen answered. "I want you to realize your mistakes...I know all about you. I know how powerful you are...that's why I'd like to 'convince' you to go to my side. It would be a waste to use such a...talented young girl like yourself as a mere Slaverlord. You will come to serve me, as my student..." 

"Fat chance," Niko hissed. 

"You will find, my little Niko," said the Queen "That you are mistaken about a great many things in this universe." 

One of the Slaverlords stepped aside, allowing Niko to see the monitors lining the wall, and all of them were tuned on one awful sight. 

The Psychocrypt Chamber. They were taking someone out of it...Oh, no... 

Two Slaverlords put Shane's limp body into a red crystal coffin, and put it on a repulsorlift unit to take it to another part of the palace. At the same time, a knot of energy near the chamber attained cohesion into another wraith-like Slaverlord. 

"Of course, my little Niko, we must take care of certain things first, including your dear Gooseman. I can see already that he'll make an ideal Slaverlord..." 

Niko froze. "Oh, no," she whispered. "Oh, Shane..." 

The Queen gave a mock sigh of patience and chastened, "Niko, Niko, Niko, you could make this so much easier for yourself if you would just agree to serve at my side." 

"I'm a Galaxy Ranger," Niko said. "My friends and I knew the risks. I'm NOT about to turn traitor and serve you." 

The Queen carressed Niko's cheek gently. "I know. That IS why you're here. Your friends are a liability I intend to rid you of." 

She turned to the torturer and said, "You may begin. Whatever you do, DON'T kill her. I want her alive." 

The torturer nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty," the man replied, pressing a small button on a large rod he held. 

The circle moved out from the wall, bringing her to almost the center of the room. The torturer smiled as he approched her. Niko gasped as icy hands caressed her ribs. She could feel his hot breath at her ear. "Human woman...yes. I remember what it was like to torture a human woman...very stimulating." 

His hands left her ribs, and the hum of electricity filled the air. Niko realized what he was actually holding - a laser whip. It cut deep into the skin, leaving severe lash marks. 

From what seemed a century earlier, she recalled an instructor at the Ranger academy informing senior-year recruits about some of the more unpleasant things they were likely to encounter during their careers. 

There was a loud *crack* and the smell of scorched flesh. Niko could barely stop from crying out in shock and pain as the lash hit her back. She tried to focus...tried to enter a trance state, but the shield that prevented her from reaching out prevented her from going under as well. 

The Queen smiled. "A shield, Lady Niko. To keep you from causing any trouble, or using your gifts to minimize your pain. I want to hear you scream...I want you to fully experience all of my 'hospitality'. That small fissure in your shields gave me all the opportunity that I needed." 

She felt that alien force pulling her back to awareness, activating every nerve just before the crack. It gave her a mental shove, preventing her from concentrating enough to reach even a light trance. Her vision blurred with fever and the abuse. She had to stay conscious to fight the attack on her mind, but her body desparately needed to lose consciousness... 

One lash.... two lashes...scorched flesh and raw pain. The tears streamed down Niko's cheeks. Eight...Nine... 

A small pause, as the guard activated the circle again, forcing her scorched, bleeding back to the wall. Niko now realized the purpose of the small, heated pins against the wall. She couldn't stop the sob of pain that escaped her as her back came in contact with them. The fire raced across every nerve in her body. 

In a moment of clarity, she glared at her captor and sent a crude thought-burst. 

*GET OUT OF MY MIND!* 

Was it her imagination? The Queen seemed to stagger back for a moment, then touch the crystal on one of the Slaverlords. Niko felt the shields drop a little. 

And just as rapidly, reseal themselves. 

"Oh, no, I want you to savor every little nuance. Save your strength, my *dear* Niko," the Queen stated. "This won't be the last session, I promise you." Then she laughed, and it wasn't a pleseant laugh. 

The torturer picked up a small rod, "And now, lady Niko...Did you realize just how pretty you are?" He thumped the rod into his hand in a steady, meanacing rhythm. 

Niko, her back arched to avoid the needles against her raw and bleeding skin, turned her head away, refusing to answer. 

The torturer slapped her hard, forcing her head around with a swift jerk. "I'm talking to you, love," he said. "Do you realize how pretty you are?" 

Niko shivered. "Go to hell." Her voice was starting to sound feeble. 

"The power to stop this lies in YOUR hands, my *dear* Niko. All you have to do is say you will serve me." the Queen said. 

Niko refused to give in, staying stoically silent. 

The Queen smiled. "I'd be disappointed if you gave in the first time, my little Niko." 

The dark shield dropped, and the raw flood of emotion and thought flooded in. There was nothing left of Niko's natural shields left to stop the sudden onslaught. She almost vomited when the wave of perverse, intensely erotic pleasure came from the torturer, mixed with iciness and sadistic cruelty of the Queen. 

This *sensing* of the two of them...this was the Queen's work. It was the Queen's way of gaining more energy from her pain, of adding to the torture. Niko tried to block out her mind to no avail. 

The Queen nodded to the torturer to continue. 

"I like pretty girls," said the torturer. "I'm usually the last to see 'em pretty." 

The rod smashed into the side of her face. The force knocked her back against the needles again, then forward for another blow, and another. He was working his way down her arms and her ribs, blugeon striking a few places already lanced by the whip. 

The Queen seemed to grow stronger with every blow. 

Niko couldn't stop the tears. She bit her lip until it was bloody to keep from crying out. 

The guard hit her stomach, and Niko cried out at the pain the blow caused. She was close to passing out, despite the Queen's keeping her conscious. 

Blow on blow, the needles growing hotter, and digging into more flesh. 

During the whole time, she felt like her mind was being torn apart as well as her body. For a long time, all she could do was scream, and after a while, she wasn't even capable of that. Between the abuse on her body, and the mind-shredding, there was nothing left of her to continue torturing. 

When it was over, the Queen nodded to the Dathian man. Disconnecting the manacles, Niko fell into a heap on the floor. 

The Queen turned to the torturer. "Put her shirt back on. Then bring in the next prisoner. Ranger Walter Hartford. I'd like you to perform your 'standard' routine on him. Soften him up for the Psychocrypt, nothing more." 

* * * * 

Zachary watched the torture sesson, paralyzed by his own helplessness. 

He had to get out of there, and try to save his team. There was no way he would allow the Queen to do to them what she'd done to him...what she'd done to Eliza. 

The guards left after the Queen was done with Shane. His only guards now were the Slaverlords, but he had no doubt that there would be more guards waiting if he got out. 

He looked below one more time. That Dathian bastard the Queen called her head torturer was smacking Niko over and over again with a simple metal rod. 

He couldn't stand here. this could be his only shot to escape and to save what was left of his team. 

Letting the rage swell in him, and tensing for a moment, Zachary sprung into action. He brought his chained wrists up, smashing it into the side of the Slaverlord, who fell off the catwalk to lay helpless meters below. Whipping around, he kicked the other Slaverlord, then gave it a good uppercut to the crystal, which cracked and broke. The Slaverlord howled, and collapsed into a heap of empty robes. 

Zachary dashed down the corridor, and into a junction. The alarm klaxons were starting to sound. 

*Which way?* 

Zachary picked a direction, and dashed down it, hoping it led to a shuttlebay, or to his team. 

Alone in his cell, Doc finished the wiring. Now, the alarm wouldn't sound in the cell once it was opened. 

*Geezy, remind me to nominate you for the BETA Medal of Honor!* Doc thought, as he examined the third chip, and its crude map from the detention area to the shuttlebay. 

He walked up to the door, trying to keep his excitement under control. After all, those guards had just dragged Shane and Niko out of here for places unknown. 

*Scratch that,* the hacker thought. *I *KNOW* where they went. And if the guards are to be believed, it's lucky that Zach's dead...If he knew...* Doc shuddered. *I've got to get out of here and try to warn BETA.* 

There were footsteps coming down the hallway, along with a scuffing noise. The celldoor opened, and Doc stuffed the chips up his sleeve. 

It was if they had thrown a life-sized rag doll into the cell with him, and that doll had Niko's hair. He said out loud in surprise, "No way," and rushed to her side, catching her before she hit the floor. 

Beneath the thin shirt, he could feel the scorch marks on her shoulder. Laser whips. Brutal, but minimal blood loss as the wounds were cauterized at the moment of strike. There was some breathing against his hand, so he at least knew she was still alive. 

But for how much longer? She was burning up even worse than before. 

"You're next, Hartford," the Crown Guard said. "Fifteen minutes." 

"Oh, I'll pass, thank you," Doc drawled sarcastically. "Torture and I just don't get along." 

The guard just sealed the door behind him. Doc tried to find a place on Niko's body that wasn't bruised or scorched. 

"Niko?" he asked. "Can you hear me?" 

She bleared awake, staring at him blankly. 

"Niko, it's me," he said. "It's Doc...can you hear me?" 

"I hurt..." she whispered brokenly. 

"Come on, Niko, hang in there. We're getting out of here," he said determinedly. Now was as good a time as any to try those chips Geezy had smuggled in to him. "Can you walk?" he asked. 

"I... don't know..." Her face was blank. "I think...I think I can stand...he didn't get my legs...all that much." 

It was the dead quality in her voice that chilled Doc, but he pushed his fears aside. He had to if he was going to get them out of here. He helped Niko to her feet. She winced when he hit a cut on her back. 

"We have to try. Come on. We might have a shot at getting out of here." 

He walked over to the door. Just his luck. Those idiot guards were distracted, talking among themselves and playing cards. He pulled the first chip from his sleeve. This one should key the door... 

The door slid open silently, just enough for him to get through with Niko. She leaned heavily on him, obviously in so much pain she was keeping conscious by sheer willpower. 

Doc snuck out, careful to mot make too much noise. The guards were two meters away, and that blaster was just asking to be snatched. Doc muttered a curse. He was WAY out of practice when it came to picking pockets. 

*Let's just hope that I'm not THAT rusty...* 

He snuck across the floor while both guards were engrossed in the card game. The guard barely even felt the tug in his holster. 

Sensing something was amiss, the guard turned around to see the Ranger behind him, and the wrong end of the blaster pointed his direction. 

Using the element of surprise, Doc was able to stun both guards before either had time to react or sound the alarm. He pulled the blaster from the other guard and handed it to Niko. 

"Come on, Niko," Doc said with a gesture. "If Geezy's plans are correct, the way to the shuttlebay is this way." 

Niko nodded. Doc felt a shiver run through him as he saw the blank, almost robot-like look on her face. It was Niko's body, but there appeared to be no one home behind her eyes. 

Still, they had more pressing concerns at the moment. 

He stole down the corridor, Niko limping behind him. 

Her strength was rapidly giving way. Doc didn't know how much longer she could stand. She was probably hurt worse than she was letting him see. 

They passed a corridor. A compliment of Crown guards was passing by. Doc pulled Niko against the wall, and flattened himself against it, blaster ready. 

*Big trouble* he thought... 

They robot guards passed by, without noticing them. 

Then, Doc caught a glimpse of the Slaverlord trailing some distance behind the guards. His eyes went right to the face on the Crystal... 

*Gooseman!* 

Doc stopped breathing for a moment. *Make that REALLY BIG trouble!* 

Doc snuck behind the Slaverlord when the guards had rounded a corner. Leaping out from the corridor, behind the white-robed figure, he tapped it on the shoulder. "Excuse me..." 

The Slaverlord turned around. Doc realized too late that whatever the Slaverlord saw, the Queen also saw. 

*Bad move, Hartford.* 

But a single shot rang out from behind the Slaverlord, immobilizing it. Niko had the blaster held in both hands, and her feet braced wide apart. It was obviously taking all her strength to hold and fire the blaster. Her face was still washed over in that creepy, blank expression. 

The alarm klaxons were starting to go off. 

Zachary dashed down the corridor. This now looked like the cellblock level. Good. He hadn't been mistaken after all. 

He clutched the blaster. He'd taken out a guard on the upper level, and used the blaster to vaporise the cuffs. 

A shot whizzed past his ear, another soon followed. Zachary was hit in the shoulder, but barely felt it over the racing of fear and rage. He whipped around to see a detail of Crown guards (but no Slaverlords) behind him. 

Zachary let off a couple shots on the blaster, and dodged the incoming fire. He ducked inside a door, and tried to pick them off, but they kept coming. 

He looked ahead of him. More guards, but they weren't firing at him, they were firing at the shuttlebay. 

And he could see two human figures. A dark-skinned man and a red-haired woman. 

*Doc and Niko!* 

Zachary turned and shot a few more agents, then started the long run towards the shuttlebay. 

The Slaverlord turned around, and transformed into a ghostly form of Shane. In a wicked parody of his voice, the Slaverlord came closer to Niko. "Look at you, *babe.* You're sick. You can't handle that blaster, much less escape." 

Niko shot again, and the robe collapsed. Niko tried to stride forward, and fell to the ground, the crystal centimeters from her fingertips. Doc was shooting up the small army of Crown guards sent after them. They were less than a meter from the Shuttlebay door. 

"Niko!" Doc yelled. 

"Have to...take crystal...save..." She grabbed the crystal, hands twining around it in a deathgrip. 

Doc pulled her to her feet, and helped her keep her balance as she swayed unsteadily. 

"Come on!" yelled Doc. "There's not much left in the blaster." 

Using the final chip, Doc opened the shuttlebay doors, and pulled her in. 

Zachary was almost there. He saw the door closing behind Doc and Niko. He was so close - only a few more steps. 

More shots blazed past him. Some scorched his uniform, others scored the walls. 

A loud *CRACK* and Zachary fell to the ground. His leg had been hit. Gritting his teeth, Zachary got up again, and dragged himself to the door. 

It was closing. Just enough room to make it... 

Before he could call out to his teammates, another shot hit him in the head. He went down, and was too dazed to get back up. 

*No...dammit! NO!* 

But when he looked up, his vision was fading. A Slaverlord stood over him, and he was surrounded by Crown guards. 

"I'm impressed, Captain Foxx," said the Queen, her voice droning through the Saverlord. "You made it further than I had hoped. You will make an excellent servant once I have broken you to my will." Zachary groaned, and tried to say something in answer, but he blacked out. 

Crown shuttles, most of them small, filled the enormous shuttlebay. A huge forcefield prevented the oyxgen and heat from venting into deep space. 

There were no guards in the shuttlebay...at least not right now. Doc pressed a code into the door controls. "I've jammed it." 

The door was starting to buckle as the guards rammed and shot it. 

Doc ran over to the shuttle on the launchpad and all but shoved Niko into a seat, activating the autopilot and preflight sequence. 

He dashed out of the shuttle, and over to the control bay. The sound of pounding and blasters echoed in the large expance. Doc hunkered over the launch controls and activated the launch countdown. 

The door was starting to give way. 

Doc put all he had into a mad dash across the shuttlebay. He was about halfway to the shuttle, and the computer was starting the launch countdown... 

"Launch in thirty seconds and counting..." 

The door gave away, and the guards stormed it. A flury of shots broke out. Doc was running...running...Just when it seemed he'd make it, he cried out and glowed red for a moment. He fell hard, unable to break his fall. 

"DOC!!!" yelled Niko, momentarily shocked out of her catatonia. 

"Fifteen...Fourteen..." 

She tried to get up from the pilot's chair and her legs just collapsed from under her. Pulling herself back into the seat, she activated the last round of flight controls, almost unconsciuos of what she was doing... 

"Eight...Seven..." 

The engines fired up. In the monitor, Niko could only watch helplessly as the guards hauled Doc's limp body out of the shuttlebay. 

"Four..." 

"Three..." 

"Two..." 

"One..." 

"Launch." 

The shuttle blasted off with a lurch, and Niko was thrown back into the pilot's seat. She managed to blast out of the asteroid, and program the navigational computer to warp somewhere. She pressed in a set of coordinates. 

"Those set of coordinates," the AI droned, "Match up to no known planet, asteroid, or base within mapped sensor range ..." 

"Proceed on course, computer," Niko croaked before she passed out, hands clamping onto Shane's crystal. 

The navigation computer obeyed, and she was on her way. 

[Part 3][1]

[Return to fanfic index][2]

   [1]: http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Set/4721/gr/chrys3.html
   [2]: http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Set/4721/gr/fanfic.html



	3. Chapter 3

Chrysalis - Part 3 Chapter Three Jessica Foxx was walking through the corridors of the space station housing the Albert Eienstein School for the Gifted on her way to her next class with her best friend Maureen, when the PA system came on with a chime.

"Jessica Foxx, please report to the director's office immediately. Jessica Foxx, please report to the director's office immediately. Thank you." With another chime, the pa shut off and left Jessi and her friend staring at each other with confusion.

"What'd you do to get summoned to the Dragonlady's domian?" Maureen asked dramatically after a moment.

"Nothing that I know of..." Jessi's voice trailed off in confusion.

"Oh, I know what it is, it must be some really impressive school back on Earth that is trying to recruit you to go there. They must be really impressive if the dragonlady wants to see you right away." Maureen teased. It was no big secret that a few schools were already "courting" her, trying to convince her to go there after her graduation from the Albert Einstein School, which was still three years off in the future.

"One of these days she's going to here you call her that, Maureen...." Jessi glanced at her friend reprovingly. "But, do you really think that Mrs. Ingerson would summon me to her office for that? No... it has to be something different." Jessi answered.

Maureen grinned unrepantantly. "I don't care if she hears me call her dragonlady. She's *such* a stick in the mud."

"Maureen!!" Jessi gasped in surprise.

"Well, if it's not a school that's come to try and recruit you, then you must have won some sort of award." Maureen teased.

"I'm not up for any awards right now, Maureen." Jessi tried to rule that possibility out too.

"I bet one of your teachers nominated you for an award and didn't tell you about it because they wanted to keep it a surprise, and dragonlady just had to tell you herself."

Jessi protested, "Maureen!"

Maureen just grinned and paused as they reached the door to a chemistry lab. "Jess, you'd better get going to see what the dragonlady wants. You know how she doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"I'm going, I'm going," Jessi answered, giving her friend a mildly annoyed stare. "Tell Mrs. Meyers I'll be back as soon as I can."

Her friend nodded, going in to take a seat at one of the workstations.

Jess headed for the director's office, her notebook held up in front of her chest like a protective shield. She really had no clue why she ws being summoned. She arrived at the office, only to have the secretary usher her right in without saying a word.

There was a man in a Ranger uniform standing next to the director's desk.

Jessi had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"You wanted to see me, Mrs. Ingerson?"

"Jessica, yes, yes, I did," the director seemed at a loss for words.

The man in the Ranger uniform stepped forward and said, "Miss Foxx, I've been ordered to provide you an escort to BETA Mountain to see Commander Walsh."

"Oh no, something's happened to my dad, hasn't it?!" Jess paled and clutched her notebook tighter.

"I don't really know for certain, Miss Foxx. Commander Walsh will explain everything when you see him. If you're ready to go, Miss Foxx, we can leave right away."

"Um, yeah, I guess..." she didn't know what to say.

"I'll inform your teachers that you've been called away, and have them transmit your homework assignments to your home, Jessica." Mrs. Ingerson said, getting to her feet to show them to the door.

"Homework? Oh yes, thank you, Mrs. Ingerson..." the last thing on her mind was her homework.

When she got to BETA Mountain, Zach was already waiting for her. He hugged his sister tightly, and broke away. Jessi noticed that his eyes were wet.

"Zach..."

"Jess," he said, his voice choking. "Dad's been captured. Walsh told me himself. I told him that...that the news might be easier coming from me."

"Oh, Zach..." Jessi said weakly, hugging him again. "I don't want to be..."

"Jessi," said Zach, "I'll...I'll try to take care of you, okay. We aren't going to be seaprated."

The ride back to their home was silent. Jessi had burst into tears at one point, Zach handing her a tissue and staring out the window. 

They got in the house, GV unobtrusively locking the door behind them. Jessi sat on the couch, arms folded around herself. Zach just continued staring out the window, up into the sky, as if hoping that he'd see a Ranger cruiser land.

Finally, Jessi turned to him, and said, her voice barely above a whisper. "What did the commander say happened?"

"He said that Dad was out with his team, and that they got captured...didn't say by who, though. I walked outside, and heard from the technicians. They didn't think I could hear them but..." he stopped himself.

"But what?" Jessi demanded, almost angrily.

"Jessi, Dad was captured by..." he choked, then forced himself to say it. "The technicians said that he'd been captured by the Queen."

"The Queen?!" Jessi sprung up, as if shocked. "Oh, no...Not...No..."

Zach only nodded. 

"I can't believe it. Dad's..." Zach tried to find any words he could, but nothing came.

"With Mom," finished a quiet whisper. Jessi got up off the couch, and hugged her brother. Right now, they were too shocked to cry or grieve.

"Remember what Dad told us..." Zach choked out. "In case something happened?"

Jessi nodded. "Yeah. The disks in the nightstand."

They walked into their parents' bedroom. Zach went to work immediately, while Jessi sat on the bed.

Zach opened the drawer on the nightstand, and found the disks listing the house's title, the bank register, and his father's will.

He brushed away a tear as he worked. They were falling, despite his best efforts to remain in control. Like his father, Zachary Foxx Jr. tried to be stoic under upsetting circumstances, but didn't always succeed.

Brushing away the wetness with his sleeve, he looked up and saw Jessi. She held a large picture in her hands. Zach sat next to her and looked at it with her.

June 8, 2084...Zach had seen this picture many times, but never this way. His mother and father stared back from time. In the picture, they weren't much older than he was. This moment of their lives had been preserved under glass.

And in a way, as far as anyone knew, they were together again, trapped under a different sort of glass.

Zach felt the loss keenly, staring at the picture. *Mom and Dad...why?*

And now they were gone. Pictures and memories were all that remained.

"We need to strike now, before she has all her forces gathered." was Nagata's comment. "If we attack her when she is not expecting it, then it is BETA who has the advantage."

"By sending our reserves on a suicide mission?" Wheiner countered with a sneer.

"Do we just stand here, and let her wear our forces away by attrition, Senator?" asked Ambassador Waldo, the delegate from Andor. "Earth will still be captured."

"Earth won't be captured," Wheiner said. "IF we don't put everything into a crackpot battle. Personally, I think this is a classic case of Commander Walsh exaggerating the threat."

"It's easy for you to say that, living on Earth," argued Senator Cable, a freshman senator from Ozark. "But those of us on the border have put up with these skirmishes and grown worried."

"Sacrifices have to be made, Senator," Wheiner told her with a sneer. "We can't afford to protect the entire League, not with the skirmishes reducing our troops! We need to set priorities."

"You call it priorities, but I call it genocide!" Cable argued. 

"This is war, Cable," Senator Asami, Wheiner's toadie-in-training, argued. "We can evacuate some of the border planets. Granna and Nebraska have already filed evacuation plans."

"But the border is still vulnerable!" said Senator Lorel, the representative from Granna. "We can only evacuate a few thousand. There's over two million on Granna. Most of them are in remote areas and won't know until it's too late."

"The Queen is not looking to invade in the immediate future," Wheiner said. "The last time she invaded, BETA decimated her forces." 

"She has tried before to invade Earth," Lorel corrected him, "And was stopped, just barely."

"Does anyone still remember," said Ambassador Zozo, the Kiwi delegate, "That only two years ago, she was able to raid Kirwin and capture eighty human colonists?"

"She doesn't have the manpower anymore," Wheiner said. "BETA's forces outnumber her." "That's why she's been doing these hit and run tactics," said Walsh. "Look at the pattern."

He punched up a star map on the viewer. "Where she's been striking is sectors that aren't necessarily tactically important, but still need to be defended. These border strikes have already reduced our fleet by twenty percent."

Asami said. "There is still the option of diplomacy."

Cable spoke up, "I disagree *Senator* Wheiner," it was clear that she held him in contempt. "From the reports we've seen, the Queen of the Crown is a threat to *all* sentient life. No, I agree with Commander Walsh on this. We need to strike at the heart of the Queen's forces before they can strike at us."

"By marching in there on a suicide run?" Wheiner countered. "On the reccommendation of a commander who lost his best agents by trusting a Crown spy?"

"We don't know for certain what happened to the Series Five team, Senator Wheiner, and until we do, let's not start by blaming someone else." The woman really had no respect for the sniveling little Senator. She wondered how the public couldn't see him for what he was, and not re-elect him to his senate seat.

"And if they were captured, Senator," said the Andorian delegate, Ambassador Waldo. "Then it is all the more reason to strike immediately."

Wheiner's eyes nailed Waldo to his seat. "I'm tired of you, Ambassador. I know how close you were with those...those reckless maniacs of Walsh's."

"Reckless they may be, Senator Wheiner, but maniacs, no. I've seen more rabid people in this room than I have in my time with the Rangers." Waldo countered calmly, fixing Wheiner a stare of his own. "And I will bet, Senator, that if your plan succeeds, you will stay safely on Earth to look after your matters."

"And by the time we put all our eggs into one basket," argued Walsh. "The Queen will have her forces gathered, and it will be even worse."

"And then what if it doesn't work?" Senator Kastren said thoughtfully. The Senator was an pragmatic political independant from the Middle colonies. "BETA's forces have been hit hard by those border strikes. If we fail at this preemtive strike, the border will be evemn more vulnerable. We'd be an even worse sitting duck than before."

"IF we keep at our current plan, then the whole League is doomed. Not just the Border," Walsh was brutally honest. "But Andor, Kirwin, and Earth. The pre-emptive strike may sound rash, but if we sit and do nothing, our chances grow slimmer."

That seemed to quiet the gaggle of hushed voices in the room.

"The Queen won't be satisfied with just destroying the fleet, she wants bodies, live bodies, to fill her Psychocrypt." Walsh continued into the silence.

"The humans will be conscripted," Ambassador Zozo said, the Kiwi uncharacteristically dour. "Her troops have raided Kirwin many times over the centuries."

"Andorians and Kiwi can't be put in the Psychocrypt," Waldo said, backing up his colleague's statement. "Or else we wouldn't have lived long enough to FORM the League. If we fail to stop her before she makes that move, then none of us will have a chance of surviving her reign."

The room was filled once more with murmuring... most of it in agreement with the attack plan.

"The humans will all be enslaved," Waldo continued, the Andorian's voice level. "Andor and Kirwin will be turned to asteroids. And if the Senator still doubts this, he needs to talk to the millions of Andorians and Kiwi who lost loved ones to the Queen. She still doesn't acknowledge the League of Planets as anything but a rebellious fragment of her Empire."

"The Gherkin refugees on Kirwin," Zozo said. "Lost their homeworld, their society, and their pride. Their familes are enslaved in the Psychocrypt, and their culture has all but been destroyed."

"You think we're exaggerating the threat?" barked Walsh. "You can tell that to the Foxx family."

"And if we win, Sen. Weiner, we will have saved the lives of billions of registered voters," Cable added with an acid sweetness.

Wheiner frowned, but sullenly sat in his seat. "Then, it is time to vote. All in here favoring Commander Walsh's attack plan?

The board of leaders stood up and pressed the vote into their computers.

"All in opposition?"

Another group typed in an answer.

"The final vote," said Wheiner, looking right at Walsh as he read the results. "Is Three hundred and two for, fifty-eight against. Congratulations, Commander."

Walsh exhaled slowly.

"This Emergency Session has been dismissed," Wheiner said, ringing the gong in back of him.

The senators filed out, some glowering at Walsh, but most shaking his hand and wishing him luck.

Zozo and Waldo stepped from the crowd, and came to Walsh's side.

"We support you, Commander," said Zozo. "One-hunderd percent."

"I just wish I supported myself one hundred percent, Ambassador," Walsh admitted.

"Your plan is sound. It is a bit rash, but it is based on the best intellegence we have," Waldo said sternly.

"Which is nothing," Walsh said. "Wheiner is a pain in the ass on most things and a rat on most everything else, but he did have a point. If BETA loses this, it will probably be the end of the League itself. Putting most everything we can muster into a pre-emptive strike seems awfully damn foolhardy on some level."

"But you've said yourself, Commander, that this plan is the best hope for the League," said Waldo. "It is not a wise plan to sit by and just let her keep attacking."

"Is it the best hope for the League? Yes," said Walsh. "But, Waldo, if you want to know if the plan's wise, then the answer is no."

"I see," said the aged Andorian. "Well, the decision is made. It is a sound plan. Go back to your home, and pray to whatever God you believe in."

Walsh sighed. "I will, because only God knows how this will all turn out."

The Queen had abandoned her formal gowns for a simple purple robe. She sat cross-legged on a satin pillow in the large room, surrounded by artifacts from many worlds. Books bound in leather, crystals, rich tapestries. Her study was her sanctuary. It was an elaboration of the home she once had.

She repeated a simple chant and breathed deep of the insence smoke in the room.

Her bones ached, and her muscles were knotted. Her head pounded. That little Ranger wench had taken more out of her than she'd thought. She had underestimated Niko. Of course, her attacks had been fueled by a lot of pain. It would cost that little minx dearly, too. Niko's shields were gone, and she was in a considerable amount of psychic pain. In addition to the torture, and the backlash-fever...if she died, she wouldn't be a threat.

*Too bad she decided to resist and die rather than be sensible.* the Queen thought, opening her eyes and pulling herself from the soft satin cushion she had been sitting in. Niko wouldn't be able to survive more than a day or two with that much physical and psychic toll.

Maybe she'd hold a funeral for Niko. Maybe cremate her in the tradition of the Homeworld, and send the ashes out an airlock. Oh, yes...or just send her corpse uncerimoniously to BETA with a list of demands, but not before showing the mangled wreck to Captain Foxx.

The Queen frowned. Captain Foxx would have to be dealt with. Such a strong will, and a powerful life-force...He wouldn't break easily, but he *would* break. She had justified it in a thousand ways. She didn't want him as a martyr, she didn't want him to die without telling her his secrets, he was an honorable enemy who deserved the opportunity to change his mind...but none of those were the real reason.

She hated him. It would give her the greatest pleasure ever known to see his pride stripped from him. To see him cowering at her feet like a dog about to be whipped. It made her lip curl into a smile at the mere thought.

She'd finally achieve victory, not only over him, but over *her* as well.

The Queen opened her eyes and looked into the column before her. Inside the vault lay her most prized Psychocrystal.

"Eliza," she hissed. "By the time I'm through, you'll no longer be a weakness to me. You and your mate will serve as an example to all of humanity."

Oh, but she was still weak! Throwing a cape on over her robes, she called out to a Slaverlord outside the door. The door to her study opened and the wraith-like creature drifted in.

The Queen limped towards it, and with unsteady hands, she gripped the crystal around its neck. Energy surged from it, through her fingers, bringing a pleasant warm rush, and eliminating the aches from her body. Soon, she felt strong again.

The Slaverlord, however, was turned to ash. The crystal shattered, falling into useless shards on the floor.

The Queen took a deep breath. She didn't like the fact that she was having to feed on her Slaverlords, but soon, she would have entire worlds of life-energy to drain.

As soon as the League of Planets was defeated. After all, she had already taken care of those annoying Galaxy Rangers.

There was a knock on her study door. The Queen stormed over to the great wooden door in annoyance and opened it.

Captain Orthallan stood in the hallway.

"How many times," she barked. "Must I tell you NEVER to approach my study, Captain?"

Orthallan cleared his throat and straightened. "Highness. We have...unfortunate news."

"Unfortunate?" the Queen asked. "Tell me, you fool."

"There was a...jailbreak. Surely you know that one of your Slaverlords was lost in the attack..."

The Queen knit her brows.

"One of the Rangers has...escaped."

The Queen smacked Orthallan with a brutal backhand. He fell to the floor, and she grippled him by the neck, fingers digging in like claws. Orthallan strugged for breath.

"You idiot! Which one did you allow to escape?"

She released Orthallan's throat, and he sucked in air. "Ranger...Ranger Niko, your majesty. She escaped with Ranger Gooseman's Psychocrystal."

"WHAT?!" The Queen was turning dark with rage. "Orthallan, you will be murdered for your incompetence!" She turnd to the guards. "Take this fool to Delon. See that he suffers."

"But...but y..Your Highness," Orthallan said, slowly getting up from the floor. "We did capture the other Ranger."

A group of guards dragged their prisoner roughly down the corridor. The Queen approached, and looked over the captive. The torturer had done well.

"Ranger Hartford. How good of you to stay."

She smiled when the unconscious Ranger didn't answer. She'd have to reward Delon for beating the sarcasm out of him.

"Take him to the Psychocrypt," the Queen ordered. "Before he finds his tongue." The guards obeyed, and the Queen smiled at Orthallan. "I may let you live after all. Leave me."

Orthallan nervously bowed and left as quickly as he could.

The Queen walked silently over to a communications terminal and pressed a button. "Head Interragator Delon."

The Dathian man popped up on the screen. "Majesty."

"I want to congratulate you on your handling of Ranger Hartford. I was tiring of his wit."

"As was I, Majesty."

"I would like to know whether you have a holograghic recording of Ranger Niko's session."

"Of, course, Majesty."

"Wonderful. I would like to see you in my labratory in two hours. I'd like to perform a few 'modifications' to it."

"May I ask your reason?"

"I'd like to stage a small 'demonstration' for Captain Foxx. I'll say no more until we meet again."

****

It was nighttime on this side of Xanadau, and watching for danger on night-watch was more a matter of ritual, and teaching Novices dicipline and endurance.

But not tonight.

Novice Kesty was manning her post on the Main tower, watching the stars, and charting them as part of an assignment from her teacher, Mentor Thella. Thella, like Kesty, was Andorian, but Kesty had been abandoned as a small girl by her smuggler parents, and Thella had found her on the streets.

Hers was a common story here. Orphans, street children, foundlings. All of them Gifted in some aspect or another, whether in psychic gifts or extremely high intellegence. Xanadau was a sanctuary. Once you reached here, you would be healed, and protected. In return, you renounced your ties to much of the outside worlds. To Kesty, who had no ties, it was a good way of keeping this place sheltered. After all, once outsiders came here, paradice would be forever lost.

She gazed up at the pattern of stars. the constellation of the Mothmoose had moved East a few degrees. She dutifully noted it on her paper tablet with her stylus.

Now, where was the constellation of the Lovers?

Once she had located the right cluster of stars, Kesty noticed something gleaming.

*That's not right,* she thought. *It doesn't even look like a star.*

But that gleam in the sky...it was getting brighter!

She put down her tablet and picked up her telescope. The light was a shuttle, and it was landing!

Kesty ran over to the warning bell, and pulled the string hard. The loud gong echoed through the villiage. She kept pulling and pulling.

People started to flood out of the Collegum, and the Chambers, pointing and gasping at the light in the sky.

It was in a nose-dive, and almost ready to crash unless something was done.

On the ground, a group had already formed a large circle, and sent their energy to the shuttle, slowing its descent, and trying to guide it gently to the ground.

It still landed roughly, but not crashing, as they had feared.

Rushing over, several Novices were stunned to see a shuttlecraft this closely. Pushing the crowd aside, Master Adept Lannon rushed up to the shuttle, and using his telekenetic abilities, pulled the shuttle door open.

They found the shuttle pilot slumped on the floor. At first Lannon thought she was dead, but when he rushed over, he saw that she was barely alive.

And worse...he recognized her.

"Get a healer!" he barked, "and get Master Adept Ariel! Tell her that it's her student!"

Lannon looked down at the young woman's hand. Clutched in her palm as if her life was depending on it was a bright red crystal. With difficulty, he pried it from her hand, and looked at it, his eyes widening in shock.

Pure psychic energy, with an insense evil aura that seeped into him the instant he touched it. Immediately, he shielded.

"Novice Niko," he muttered. "By the Great Goddess of the Universe, how did you run across something like this?"

Lannon took care to hide it in his vest as the healers came to take Niko away from the battered shuttle.

[Part 4][1]

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   [1]: chrys4.html
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	4. Chapter 4

Chrysalis - Part 4 Chapter Four Niko was immediately rushed to the Healer's Chambers, and Ariel was summoned. All through the night, and early into the morning. Ariel kept a near-constant vigil over her "daughter," watching as the healers did their best with her.

On the other side of the room, Kahlen and the healers tried to restore the damage done, but something was very wrong.

Finally, Kahlen looked up. "That's all we can do for now. Everyone, get some rest."

They cleared out of the room. Ariel walked over to Niko's side, holding one cold, waxen hand in hers. She was deathly pale, her red hair a shocking contrast to her drained, haggard appearance. A single mage-light flickered in a scone on the wall, giving the room a candle-lit air.

Kahlen entered the room. "Mentor Ariel? May I speak with you?"

Ariel looked up and adjusted her cats-eye glasses. "How is Niko?"

"I'm afraid I don't know..." the healer answered. "She is restored physically," 

"What about her psyche?" Ariel asked.

The healer was hesistant. "It would appear that she's suffered several large psychic attacks recently, and that it has taken a toll on her. She was using that...prosthetic..."

"Niko knew her risks," Ariel shot back, having none of it. "Is her implant the real cause of this?"

"We honestly don't know. What we do know is that she left here barely after Novicehood. Since then, her Gifts have increased in power tenfold. We had warned you both about technology..." The healer's voice was almost accusing.

Ariel's dirty look cut it off. Niko was her best student, and the old mage would hear none of it. "What does this have to do with her implant? And DON'T use that tone. I know what the council thought about it in the first place. Leave your feelings about the technology out of this, Kahlen, and tell me what's wrong with Niko."

The healer flushed, but kept her temper. Ariel WAS a member of the council after all.

"It would appear that the combination of use and her implant accellerated her Gifts to a point where she was barely keeping them under control. She was more than likely using the implant's energy to shield herself."

"How strong are her Gifts that control would be lost?" Ariel asked.

"She left here barely after Novicehood," Kahlen said. "She now has the power of a very strong Adept. Her Gift potentials were blasted open by the implant. Normally, such acceleration wouldn't occur, and when it does, it usually kills the student due to backlash."

"Are you telling me she's dying then?" Ariel asked.

The healer dropped her head and answered, "I- we- honestly don't know..."

The normally unflappable sorceress was starting to get very frustrated. Everyone on Xanadau knew that Ariel was very close to Niko. The young human had always been more daughter than student. "Then what DO you know?" Ariel asked.

"Her natural shields probably had gaps in them, and that's why she was using the implant's power. She's also suffered from some very brutal psychic attacks. Between the attacks and her rapid growth...she didn't have a chance."

Ariel's eyes widened. "An attack?"

"Several at least," Kahlen answered. "It was obviously an attack by someone...If I didn't know better, I'd say her attacker was a Master Adept."

"What do you mean?"

"Her mind is like a large, open wound. Her gifts were starting to go rogue, and then these attacks break down any defense she might have had against it. Her attacker must have channeled a lot of rage into this, and forced her psychic channels open. It's so brutal that even her memories have been damaged. It is the most brutal and sickening case of magical attack that I've ever encountered."

Kahlen was looking down at the unconscious human with a mix of suspicion, curiosity, and pity. "Even if she does wake up, she will have to be retaught shielding."

She straightened, and addressed the older human. "I told you, Ariel, that we've never seen a case before. We can't even begin to measure the damage that was done to her when her shields were shattered. The attack was particularly brutal - an attack on a Gift we never suspected was there. Niko is developing Thought-Sensing very late."

"Thought-Sensing? We never thought she'd develop it." Ariel allowed herself a small smile, "She always did do things her own way, I guess."

Kahlen frowned. "One of the things we read was telepathic trauma. Is it possible that she was...linked to someone? Possibly a Thought-senser?"

Ariel thought a moment. "One of her friends had a latent ability to project thoughts. Not strong enough to bother training, but I know that he and Niko were quite close."

Kahlen frowned. "Niko is a very strong young woman. Between her youth and strength, she may be able to survive this. Have faith, Ariel. The only thing we can do now is wait," she said. "And I'd like you to get some rest as well. You'll do your pupil no good if you collapse on us."

Ariel nodded silently. "I...will rest, Kahlen."

Lannon walked to the other side of the settlement, up to the vine-covered remains of a palace that was once grand, but now had only a large tower, and a small part of the living quarters remaining.

Lannon walked in through the heavy door, and into the Hall. The Old Palace outdated the Circle itself, the work of the Ancient Ones who had once called this planet home. Very little was known of the Ancient Ones, except that their civilization was the one that predated the Circle. Perhaps they once were the Circle, but much was unknown about them.

This was the Old Palace, an archive of precious relics, sacred books, and very powerful magic. Indeed the most arcane and dangerous magics of all the universe were among the ones housed here.It was protected by only one Guardian, the oldest sorceress on Xanadau. For the most part, this Sancutary was forbidden to members of the Circle.

But necessity makes exceptions of everything.

Lannon walked up the stairs and through the candle-lit halls (magic wouldn't work inside the palace, so mage-lights were useless), and into the study at the end of the long hall.

Inside sat the lone keeper and resident of the Old Palace. The alien seer sat behind her desk, scratching notes on yet another vellum scroll. She had a drawn, narrow face, and pale lavender skin. Her face was ageless and beautiful, but with eyes that reflected the centuries she had lived. She was Lannon's mentor, choosing him at an early age and training him under the eyes of his parents.

"D'Len," Lannon said. "This is urgent."

D'Len didn't look up. "Come closer and tell me about it."

Lannon strode up to the desk and placed the large, red crystal in front of her. "Novice Niko crashed here yesterday. She had this clutched in her hand."

D'Len put her scroll and stylus aside as she looked up. As soon as her eyes hit the crystal, she yelped and snatched it in her hand. She brought herself up to her full height, whisper-thin body towering over Lannon. Her eyes registered shock, then narrowed in anger.

Lannon was frozen with surprise. Mistress D'Len never let anything upset her. He couldn't make out the word D'Len muttered under her breath, but the woman examined the crystal, as if trying to memorize every facet.

She looked at Lannon, her normally placid features marred by shock. "Where did you say you found this?"

"I told you that Niko brought it with her, Mistress D'Len," he answered. "And I know why you're shocked. That crystal is..."

"A storage...a prison of dark sorcery...and pure psychic energy." D'Len shuddered, as if freezing cold. "I'm putting this in the inner library. I want to study it for myself. In here, where there's no magic that can be used."

"Mistress?"

"Please, Lannon. Do as I say. How is Niko?"

"With a terrible backlash-fever, physically battered. Kahlen tells me that her mind has been torn apart. She has never seen a case like this before. The damage is quite severe. The healers are not certain that she'll survive."

"Perhaps it's best that she doesn't," murmured D'Len. "If she's run across this."

There was a pause before she looked back up at Lannon. "Forget you ever saw the crystal. Mention it to no one, Lannon. If Niko were to face this enemy again, she would become enslaved in one of these crystals, at the very least." D'len answered. "This appears to be something I will have to take care of myself."

"Mistress D'Len, what is it? Do you know this thing?" Lannon asked.

But D'Len was already gone, with the red crystal pulsing in her hand.

****

**...The study was spacious, and oozing evil. Rich tapestries hung on the wall, illuminated by candlelight, which also glinted off strange objects Zachary didn't quite recognize. The sweet-smelling insence smoke perfumed the air. In the center of the room, a large column seemed to support the high, cathedral ceiling. Zachary could see a shadow moving behind the column. He ran up to it. The Queen had a vault inside the column, and she was holding the contents in her hand. She grinned at Zachary evilly.

"So," she said in an obscene singsong, holding out the large, red crystal. "I see you've come to claim this. Prince Charming has come to awake his sleeping bride."

Zachary raised the blaster. "Hand it over."

"Not so fast, Ranger Foxx."

"Take it - if you can." The Queen laughed and threw the crystal at Zachary.

Zachary fired the blaster, but one of the shots hit the crystal. It flew upwards, shattering in midair!

"NO!!!"**

Zachary awoke to the sound of his own scream. Bolting upright in bed, shaking and sweating, he looked around again.

*A nightmare. Another damn nightmare.*

He should know better than to close his eyes, to let his guard down for an instant.

His "quarters" had a small privy attached. At least he could shower and shave. Too bad that the razor was an electronic model and wouldn't cut anything but hair. Still, he was grateful for the ability to maintain some sort of dignity in the face of all this.

Zachary had just put on the last few touches of his new "uniform" when the door slid open, admitting a lone person.

Kerr Orthallan.

Zachary turned around, and glowered at Orthallan angrily. Immediately, he pinned the Dathian against the camera lens, blocking view of the room. His right arm pinned Orthallan's chest, and the left one clenched around Orthallan's neck.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't break your neck," Zachary barked angrily.

"Because, captain, it wouldn't do you any good. You wouldn't be able to escape this room, seeing as how my voice disables the lock."

Zachary huffed in disgust, then let Orthallan go.

"Are you entirely certain that there's no Andorian blood in you, captain?" Orthallan rrubbed his neck. Zachary then noticed some other bruises there. "I trust it you slept well?"

"My team," Zachary said tersely. "Where are they?"

Orthallan raised his eyebrows. "Well taken care of. You should worry for yourself."

"It wouldn't do me any good," he said. "Either way, I'm a dead man, or a Slaverlord."

"Not necessarily," said Orthallan. "You haven't been tortured. The guards deliver you meals, and see to it that you have a modicum of dignity. You've been treated well given the circumstances."

"Seeing my friends tortured is not my idea of being treated well."

"The Queen sees no point in treating them well," said Orthallan. "But she sees in you what she saw in me. She can be quite generous when she's pleased, but her punishments for disobedience are equally lavish. My advice to you is to cooperate with her."

"When sandcrawlers fly, Orthallan. Tell that to the Queen."

Orthallan shook his head. "You don't understand, do you? Let me put it to you this way. Ten years ago, I was in this very cell, telling the very same thing to another Crown Guard."

Orthallan examined Zachary's face. "I was First-Husband to a noblewoman on Dathia Prime. She had power and influence, as well as great intellect and beauty. Indeed, I was proud to share her with the Second. Her daughters were gaining positions and wealth of their own, and her sons were promised to beautiful and powerful women."

"But, she had no love for the Queen. She and I would shelter Gherkins from the Psychocrypt. Looking back on it, it was the worst mistake we could have made. Those puny things deserved to die."

"Is that you, or the Queen talking?"

"It is of no concequence, Captain, but I will tell you this. I stood on that catwalk above the torture chamber and watched my wife, the Second, my eldest daughter, and her First-Husband tortured to death. The Queen spared me because she saw potential. I tried to escape, I tried to die. I tried EVERYTHING before I got some sense and realized that serving the Queen was my best recourse. I am fed, clothed. I have my freedom, and I am an officer. I am now proud to serve by her side."

Zachary was disgusted. "The Queen butchered your family, and you call yourself proud?"

"Yes," said Orthallan. "I could have easily escaped with you and your team, but I won't. Captain Foxx, you're a man of reason. I know that soon we'll serve the Queen together."

"Let me tell you something," Zachary said. "And you can repeat this word for word to the Queen. I'm not betraying the memory of my team, my people, and I'm definitely not going to betray my wife by serving her."

"Captain," said Orthallan. "Perhaps it's time you learned a little respect for your position."

He pulled out a small box, and pressed the button. The door swished open. Led by a lone Slaverlord, the guards and flooded into the room, a dozen at least. They swarmed Zachary, cutting off his view, grabbing his arms, his clothing...immobilizing him in a corner of the room.

A fist slammed into his stomach...across his jaw. A kick hit his legs...

It took four guards to subdue him as he kicked and struggled. One robot guard was smashed against the wall, but others came to replace it.

More fists, more feet. They came from all angles, and Zachary couldn't block them. His ribs ached, but nothing stopped them. He couldn't breathe, but they continued to beat him, rip his clothes, tear at his skin. 

Zachary was forced to the floor, beaten and kicked. A kick to his ribs, the butt end of a rifle to his nose, a heel smashing into his stomach. Fists slammed into his chest and his face.

And above it he *heard* her. He heard the Queen through the Slaverlord.

She was laughing.

He tried to struggle, but an acid-smelling cloth was pressed to his nose and mouth. After two breaths, he was unconscious, but the beating still continued.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Zachary came to on the bed, too exhausted to do much else but just lay there. Oh, he hurt all over. Whatever they had used to knock him out still scorched his throat.

The Queen herself sat on the edge of the bed, silently watching him. Seeing he was awake, she turned and dismissed her guards. She then walked over to the camera, and pressed a series of buttons to deactivate it.

They were alone.

"Why?" asked Zachary, knowing that it wan't the most intellegent thing to say at the moment.

"I wanted to speak to you alone," the Queen said. "There are...things that you have to know."

"I'm not interested in hearing them," Zachary replied.

"I want so much to help you, Zachary," said the Queen. "To stop the nightmares, to end your suffering, to soothe your pain. Orthallan was right. You could serve by my side willingly, and have an eternity without pain."

"No thanks," he said. "I tasted your 'hospitality' once. I served by you once, remember?"

"Was the Psychocrypt so bad, Captain, or do you only wish it were?"

Zachary couldn't quite surpress the shiver. God, this was like playing chess with the Devil. One false move, and it was eternal damnation.

The process was extremly painful. After all, his mind and soul were being torn from his body and deposited in a crystal of pure life-energy. Reviving after his team had found his crystal and restored him also hurt.

But the time *between...*

"Eliza does not suffer," the Queen said gently.

Zachary pulled back. There was something very shocking about her words, or rather, the unusual lack of malice behind them. 

But an instant later, the ice-cold eyes stared back at him. "Captain, you are an honorable enemy, so I present you with the choice of capitulating to me on your free will, and you *will* surrender on your free will. Of that, I am certain." 

"I'll die first," he stated. "And you know it."

The Queen straightened. "Then I have nothing more to say. Pleasant dreams, Captain."

She turned and left, the door closing omniously behind her.

The Queen took the red crystal from her pocket, and fingered it lovingly. Humans...such a contrast. Strong, yet vulnerable.

She closed her eyes and ran her long fingers across the crystal's face. Looking back at the door, she smiled. *Which memory would destroy you, Captain?*

She concentrated, and looked deep into the crystal.

Contrary to what she had told the captain, she was capable of causing Eliza to suffer. She held the crystal and stared into it, breaking the human's puny attept at resistance.

A smile broke across her face as the right images and memories flitted across her mind.

*Ah, Eliza...thank you. You are a most helpful servant.*

[Part 5][1]

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   [2]: fanfic.html



	5. Chapter 5

Chrysalis - Part 5 Chapter Five Two days later, Niko stirred a little on the pillow. She felt almost too weak to move.

For a moment, she didn't know who she was, or where. It was all a grey mist.

Memory came back to her...being captured...torture...the shuttlebay...

A flash of red and an awful feeling of burning washed over the memories.

Where was she? Who was she? Nothing made sense, and it hurt too much to try and remember.

Everything felt raw. Her vision was fuzzy, and nothing made sense. In confusion and shock, she let out a wail.

Kahlen and Ariel had been in the next room, stoically munching a light meal. Kahlen insisted that Ariel at least eat something, just to keep her strength up. It was obvious that the vigil had taken a lot out of Ariel.

"Draven tells me that his colony is doing well," said Kahlen, trying to break the tension. "The bread was made there."

"Really," Ariel was picking at the bread and vegetables in front of her.

"Ariel, you have to eat," said Kahlen. "I wouldn't like to reserve out a bed for you as well."

Ariel looked up and pushed up her glasses. "I apologize, Kahlen. I'm just too worried to really think about eating, that's all."

when they felt the Healer's Wing itself start to shake.

Ariel slumped over. Guilt...rage...anguish. It was like being in the middle of a hurricane, but this was totally composed of emotion, thought...

It assailed her, forcing her to the floor with a moan. Ariel picked herself back up, and attempted to shield herself, but the storm continued, abating only a little.

They dashed into Niko's room to find her standing...no floating in the center of the room. Awful red-purple energy surrounded her, sending off a forcefield, and lighting the room like she was some sort of angry demon-spirit let free.

Her eyes were open and unseeing, and the room literally shook. The objects in the room - the nightstand, the scone, and the bed, floated and swirled around her like she was the center of a hurricaine.

The only noise in the room was her keening, piercing cry. She looked and sounded like a banshee, especially in her loose nightgown and with her russet hair flowing out around her.

What staggered Kahlen and Ariel back the most was the waves of emotion she was broadcasting. Rage, fear, panic, confusion, and an awful, sickening guilt. 

Ariel gasped and tried to Mind-Touch Niko herself, only to be thrown out of her mind, and picking herself off the floor. Only one coherant thought could be picked up.

*Dead...all three...dead...Why did I live?*

Kahlen helped Ariel to her feet. "She doesn't know what she's doing."

The whole building started to rattle. Ariel clung to Kahlen for strength. Forgetting her bruises and safety, Ariel dashed into the room, narrowly missing the scone flying at her head.

Picking a blanket out of the air, and doing her level best to shield so that she wasn't picked up herself, Ariel threw the blanket around Niko, the younger woman still convulsing and screaming.

The objects in the room dropped hard, the scone shattering as it hit the floor, the nightstand and bed splintering. Ariel continued to bundle Niko up and force her to the bed.

By now, an entire crowd of healers, mages, scholars, and worried people had bolted to the outside door. 

"Shield! Everyone!" Kahlen yelled. "Niko could die from all of you just being here. Now leave, move it!"

Ariel was exerting herself, trying to shield both herself and her pupil. Her glasses were starting to slide down her nose. Kahlen rushed in, and uncorked a vial of something, which she pretty much forced down Niko's throat.

The room stopped shaking, and Niko lay limp on the bed. Ariel also fell back, but Kahlen caught her, and helped prop her up in a corner.

"What did you give her?" Ariel asked, worried.

"Dorith root extract."

"WHAT?!"

"She's burning it off almost faster than I hoped," Kahlen said grimly. "Her Gifts are completely out of control."

"I Mind-touched her for an instent, Kahlen," Ariel said quietly. "She said something about all three being gone...poor child's probably talking about her friends."

"Her friends?"

"Yes," said Ariel. "The three men on her team. The four of them were practically inseperable."

"I met one of them, didn't I? The outsider?"

"Zachary?" Ariel pushed up her glasses. "Oh, yes, Kahlen. He's one of them. Niko talked a lot about him."

"Funny. I didn't read the slightest bit of psychic talent in him, other than a particular vulnerability to psychic attack."

"He's not the one. The one who had the ability...Kahlen, do not spread this."

"Healer's Oath, Ariel."

"The one who had the ability was a young man. Niko's age. His name was Shane. Niko told me that during some emergency, he was able to project a call for help. That's probably what blew open her ability in the first place."

"Lots of emotion, someone completely untrained...it's not unheard of, but not in the case of just colleagues. The bond has to be a lot deeper."

Ariel stood up. "I'm afraid it was, Kahlen."

Kahlen studied her patient, then studied Ariel. "I see..."

Ariel nodded.

Kahlen jerked up, looking at the door. She gasped.

"Mistress D'Len!"

Ariel looked up to see the tall, ancient woman walk silently into the room.

"I sensed the outburst," she said, looking at Kahlen. "Tell me how she is doing."

"Not well, I'm afraid," Kahlen said. "We've a Gift gone rogue, and a lot of psychic damage. The poor girl doesn't even have any natural shields anymore. She was attacked, and from what Ariel can tell, she lost her three comrades."

D'Len glode over to the foot of the bed, moving as swiftly and silently as a cat. She looked at the young human sadly. "She is in a terrible way. I have encountered cases like this. That's why I am here."

"Mistress," Ariel asked. "Can you please help her?"

"When she is awake," said D'Len. "Right now, I've got her under shield myself."

Kahlen was a bit relieved. "Will she be all right?"

Niko was groggy as she heard the conversation faintly.

"There is a chance, but in order to survive," said D'Len. "Niko must stay here until she has recovered..."

Niko's flash of panic drowned out the rest of D'Len's explanation. *Must stay here?* she thought, but couldn't say. *You don't know the danger...*

The herbs Kahlen had given her earlier were kicking in, despite her efforts to keep her eyes open. *No, I can't stay. Before she finally fell asleep, she *I MUST leave...*

****

Hours later, Niko awoke with a start to the sound of distant thunder and raindrops hitting the glass window. 

She had been dreaming. She could hear the screams...remember the pain...it hadn't been a dream. She could remember it only vaguely. Part of her mind felt like an open sore, sounded like wailing. There was nothing in her but grief and fever.

She was the last one. The only one. Gods, she was alone...She couldn't save them...She had been too weak...

From some corner of her mind, she remembered that she had to leave. There was a shuttle. She had to leave, either to rescue...

Rescue who? She didn't remember.

Pushing the blankets off her, Niko rose from the bed and frantically dashed out of the Healer's Chambers, dressed in slippers and a warm nightgown, out across the wet lawn, out into the darkness.

Niko ran blindly, rain soaking her. She was dizzy, and practically blind. She fell into the mud numerous times, but managed to pull herself to her feet and dash in whatever direction she happened to be facing.

Niko's feet took her over the hills, down near the creek, and the stone bridge, but the footing was slippery. She was soaking wet, covered in mud, and it was hard to keep her balance or see. Her whole body burned and ached.

But across the creek. There it was! The shuttle waited for her like an old, expectant friend.

*Have to reach the shuttle...have to rescue...before too late...*

The obsession burned through her like the pain, like the high fever, but it didn't matter. She had a mad strength to get back.

But her feet betrayed her, and Niko fell into the creek, flailing and thrashing. She inhaled sharply, and her lungs filled with water. She coughed and choked on it, spitting up mouthfulls of river. Still, she swam for the far shore, finally hefting herself onto the muddy bank, coughing, burning and exhausted.

Sheer willpower pulled her to her feet and kept her going. Niko crossed her arms, and her teeth chattered. Her entire body was soaked, and everything felt cold and wet, or dry and hot because of her dangerously high fever. She was so dizzy, she couldn't keep her footing.

She coughed again. That spill into the creek was still causing her to shiver with cold and sweat with fever.

Just a few more steps. Then, she could rest.

Niko crawled to the shuttle, and pulled the lock with all her strength. The shuttle droor opened, and Niko made it inside, closing the door behind her.

*Have to...Gods, I hurt...have to leave here. Have to warn...*

But she couldn't go any further before exhaustion and fever claimed her. She collapsed in a heap on the floor of the shuttlecraft.

[Part 6][1]

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   [2]: fanfic.html



	6. Chapter 6

Chryaslis - Part 6 Chapter Six Far away from Xanadau, the Queen also was meditating. She concentrated on her plans, her rage...

Damn those Rangers! Even though two of them were safely part of the Psychocrypt, the other two were large, taunting questions.

Niko was gone. Either she was dead, or hiding. If she was dead, then a promising prospect was lost. If she was hiding, though, there was a danger that it was in the hands of BETA, or worse. Of course, they would be so cowardly as to make a token offering like that little girl, and call it "aiding" her enemies. The Queen smiled a little. Well, soon the whole universe would be under her command. Andor and Kirwin would pay for their rebellion, and Earth would be her richest feeding ground.

But humans, for all their power, had unexpected entanglements. The Gherkins were a pacifist people. It was easy to destroy their individuality and turn them into part of the chorus. They weren't strong, but they were useful.

Humans were strong, and violent. They resisted. She'd have to break them by torture first. That was her mistake with Eliza.

The Queen's lip curled in distaste. She was every bit as frustrating as her mate, but she proved a most effective weapon against him. Comparing her to the Gherkins was like comparing a searing scarlet to a muted pink.

But soon...soon she would break Zachary and parade him in front of BETA. Then, she'd have no further use for Eliza. She'd crush the crystal herself.

The rage surged through her. The Queen grasped it, and held onto it, meditating and swimming in it.

Oh, yes...soon...

Zachary still ached all over from the beating, but he forced himself to get out of bed and pace the cell to get those weary muscles moving.

He hadn't recieved any broken bones or serious injuries. Just enough bruises to turn most of him black and blue.

He had to get out of here or do something. But with that camera watching him...

Wait a minute...the camera!

It was recessed into the wall behind clear plastic. But the plastic wasn't unbreakable, and Zachary could examine to confugurations of the camera if he craned his head just right.

*Why,* he thought with a small smile. *It's not much different from GV's internal cameras!*

His mind whirled with plans. Now, what was it that Jessi had shown him? She'd rigged GV's cameras to transmit her science project data. Maybe, just maybe, he could do something similar, or at least trick the camera into thinking it saw something else.

"The camera never lies," the old cliche said, but in reality, the camera could lie like a politician and none would be the wiser.

It wasn't an easy reach, and Zachary nearly got his hands stuck, but he managed to dislodge the camera from its base.

He pulled a wire, hoping to disarm it, but the light started flashing red! Oh, oh. He'd have to think of something - QUICK!

He pressed himself up against the jutting door frame, and waited.

The guards, a robot and a Dathian, came in, rifles drawn. They looked around the room, checking.

"Where did he go?" the live one asked himself as the robot scanned.

Zachary lept out from his spot near the door and whacked the robot at a critical junction. It went down spitting sparks.

The live one whipped around. "What the -?"

Zachary saw a live wire on the fallen android. He dove for it, snatching it a split second before the guard ran near him. Striking quickly, Zachary jabbed the live wire into the crack between the guard's chest and hip armor.

The guard jerked and appeared to dance obscenely for a moment before falling to the floor. Zachary tossed the live wire aside, and proceeded to strip the Dathian guard of his armor. The guard was only stunned. That meant he didn't have much time.

Making sure to cover his face with the helmet's face shield, Zachary picked up the guard's blaster and stole out of the prison.

He walked the corridors, not daring to try and access a terminal or talk to other guards. He tried to blend in as much as possible.

So far, so good. No one was noticing him.

The problem is that he had no idea where the hell he was.

"Hey, you." yelled a junior Crown officer. "You're new here, aren't you?"

Zachary turned, startled. The officer grumbled, "Damn robot. You, come over here. The hyperlink is not functioning right. You'll have to realign the chips."

Hyperlink...communications chips! Maybe a way to get out!

Zachary walked over and knelt by the officer. "Process this. Now, the chips on the top are hyperlink directional chips. I want you to pull out the damaged ones and take them to recycling. I'll be back later. You got that?"

Zachary nodded, and knelt by the exposed panel.

Just what he needed! This disguise was proving useful. Zachary pulled a few damaged chips, and a couple chips that weren't damaged. Zachary carefully concealed them in the cuff of the officers' uniform. They would be needed later in case he didn't make it to the shuttlebay.

Zachary was lost, though and if he spoke to any of the guards here, he'd give himself away in seconds.

He was walking further and further into the palace, relying on memories that were sketchy at best.

There didn't seem to be any guards in this section of the palace. Zachary frowned. This section of the palace practically hummed, as if above some sort of power source.

There were two power sources for here, though. The fusion reactor, and the Psychocrypt. Both of which were below him. What was this?

The only thing here seemed to be a partially opened door. Zachary peeked inside.

It was just like his dream. Right down to the final details. The smell, the candlelight. 

And the column in the center that bathed its only occupant in the eerie light of a forcefield.

Zachary stayed silent. Hopefully, she couldn't sense he was here. He watched the scene in the study with rapt fascination.

He almost didn't recognize the Queen. She didn't wear her royal robes and headdress. She silently sat on a satin cushion, wearing a simple, purple robe. Her headdress was gone, revealing close-cropped dark hair that was giving way to silver.

The Queen stood up, then walked over to the column, disabling the glowing forcefield. She pulled out the crystal, and closed her eyes.

Then yelped, and dropped it.

"Damn humans and your stubbornness," she said, putting the crystal back in the vault. "But I can sense you weakening, and I *will* win. Already, your husband is learning who his master truely is. I'll be able to drain your energy soon enough."

Zachary bit back a gasp. So she couldn't drain humans! She could feed on the Gherkin crystals, but not the *humans.*

The information was priceless - and useless. Maybe Niko could use have used the information...

He winced. *Oh, God, Niko...* His team must have been thrown in the Psychocrypt by now, all because of his misjudgement.

He closed the door, then sneaked away. More than ever, he had to find a way to contact BETA.

He didn't get too far before he ran into a familiar face, and a leigon of guards, all holding rifles to him.

"Well, well, Captain Foxx. It's good to see you again," purred Orthallan. "You really didn't think you could hide forever, did you?"

One of the guards came over and pulled the helmet from Zachary's head. Orthallan smiled.

"Take that armor off him, then report to a Slaverlord. The Queen will be...pleased."

They pulled off the armor, and equipment, but they didn't manage to find the chips. Zachary tried not to be relieved.

Two Slaverlords glided in from a nearby corridor, and grabbed Zachary, pulling him away from the guards, and into the Queen's study. The Slaverlords sat him in a chair belonging to a large desk.

The Queen's expression turned into a cold smile. "Attempting escape, Captain? You know, you're proving quite tiresome."

"So," he said. "Why didn't you throw me in the Psychocrypt when you had a chance?"

The Queen's face was unreadable, but her eyes took on the quality of black holes. "Don't insult my intelligence, Captain Foxx, by asking me questions you already know the answers to."

One of the Slaverlords vanished from the room and sealed the door behind it, but the other floated over to the Queen's side. The visage rippled before him, and even though Zachary had expected it, he still gasped with shock.

The ghostly form of Doc stood next to the Queen. Zachary gripped the armrest and glared at the Queen in horror and rage.

"As you see, Zachary," she said in a mocking singsong. "I'm already victorious."

Zachary said the only thing he could think of at the moment. "I don't see Niko or Goose."

"Ah, yes," said the Queen. "I've taken care of the lovebirds quite nicely."

A panel slid open on the wall, and two crystal coffins filled the alcove. Doc on the right, and Shane on the left.

"As for Niko..." said the Queen. "She will serve as an 'example' to my opposition on BETA Mountain, just as you will."

She rose from her seat and gestured for Zachary to follow her.

Two sets of footsteps echoed in the corridor while two wraith-like slaverlords trailed behind. At the end of the hall, the door opened up onto a terrace.

Zachary could remember the Queen standing on that terrace, staring down on him and his team. Usually, she was flanked by Slaverlords. Several times, he had looked and seen that the Queen had Eliza's Slaverlord by her side, just to rub salt into Zachary's wounds, and prove her superiority over him.

Zachary wished for those times. All but a few times, he could still see an escape route back to the ship, and safety.

But there were no escapes for him this time, and Zachary had a bad feeling about that door, as if he were walking into a trap.

The terrace was about fifty meters from the ground, polished to perfection, and with a large throne reserved for its usual observer. Zachary stood to her side.

It was so tempting. He could reach over right now with his left arm and squeeze that witch's neck. No regrets, no remorse. Just a few seconds.

He thought better of it. There were armed guards all around the place, including two still at his back. There was no way he could even reach over. Even if he succeeded, Orthallan would no doubt carry out the orders of his "beloved monarch" anyway.

He learned quite a bit during his short escape. If BETA came to her palace, they'd walk right into a trap. He had to find some way to warn them.

He looked down onto the floor below, then took a deep breath, and nearly backed into the Slaverlord.

"I told you before, Captain," said the Queen calmly. "That your subordinates will pay for any actions you do."

She was battered, brusied, tortured. Her head had been shaved, and there wasn't an exposed inch that hadn't been bruised or cut. One of her eyes had been gauged out. An ear and a couple fingers were missing. She sagged in the restraints, unable to fight her way out. She was barely recognizable, a bloodied human wreck.

All around her, guards were gathered, One, in completely black armor, and a smooth helmet, carried a huge lightsword.

The Queen merely looked on nonchalantly.

"Little Niko here was trying to aid the other two in escaping. They only got as far as the shuttlebay." The Queen's voice was even. "The others...repented, and were given the privilege of becoming Slaverlords. Niko refused. My guards have kept her alive only as an example to BETA...and you."

Zachary felt bile come up his throat at the awful sight. He was too far to help her. Too far to do anything.

Niko looked up, her ruined face staring eerily at Zachary. "I'm sorry, Zach," she cried out. "I tried..."

"Finish her." The Queen ordered.

The Guard's lightsword powered up. Zachary felt a scream on caught in his throat, but no sound came when he opened his mouth. He was ready to beg the Queen...PLEAD with his enemy to spare his friend's life, but nothing came.

The Guard walked up and ran his lightsword through Niko's chest. She howled in mortal agony.

Finally, Zachary was able to scream. "NO!!! NIKO!"

Pulling out the lightsword, the guard finished the job by stabbing through Niko's neck. She convulsed once, then moved no more.

"Prepare her body for transport to BETA Mountain along with a list of my demands," the Queen said.

Zachary couldn't move, his eyes glued to the scene.

"Consider yourself honored, Captain," the Queen said wickedly. "Not many people witness an Imperial execution and can live to tell about it." She turned to her Slaverlords. "Take him to his chamber."

The Slaverlords did as they were told, and Zachary was too shocked and numb to put up a resistance.

The Queen gazed down. "A most effective performance," she smiled down on the swordsman. "Especially from you. You will be promoted. Dismissed."

The guards turned away and filed out. The Queen pressed a small green button on her holoprojector, and Niko appeared again.

"I'm sorry Zach. I tried..." The wounds magically appeared, and she cried out. The hologram shimmered, and the tape restarted.

"I'm sorry, Zach. I tried..."

The Queen cut the projector. "Too bad I couldn't do that to you in real life, you little wench."

The guards pushed him into the room, and sealed the door behind him. Zachary couldn't speak or move for several long minutes, and when he did speak, "Why?" was all he could say. Over and over again. "Damn you, God. Why?"

The door slid open and a guard entered with a small trunk, setting it on the floor. "Here's a gift from the Queen, Ranger."

He opened it up. The Queen's sheer malice was legendary, but her twisted cruelty was even more apalling.

Two things lay in the box. The blood-stained uniform of a female Ranger and a long lock of auburn hair.

Zachary closed the box slowly. 

He couldn't get the awful images out of his mind. Like some awful loop, he saw Niko's death countless times, heard himself screaming her name...

*There's no hope, Zachary,* the invading voice spoke again. *She's dead, and they're Slaverlords. You're not going to get out of here...*

There was only one last thing to do...no, two things.

He walked up to the hidden camera, and took the chips he'd smuggled from the communications relay.

The plastic had been replaced with a temporary forcefield that was easy enough to short out.

The camera was linked to the Palace internal communications, and the two chips in his cuff were routing orders, telling the camera where to send the signal. The other chip he'd hidden was a recording of him sleeping.

He prayed that it would work.

Zachary reached behind the camera, and removed its original programming chips. the light at the top of it flashed yellow. If it didn't get a signal in a few seconds, it would alert the guards.

Fortuanately for Zachary, a few seconds were all he needed. The chip was inserted, and the phony image was played for the Queen.

Now HE was manipulating HER, rather than the other way around. Zachary felt a surge of evil triumph at the thought. He placed one control chip in, then another...

And the light turned yellow. Zachary immediately pulled the chips, and the light went to green. He breathed a sigh of relief. 

What to do with the chips now? Well, maybe reversing them would be the right thing to do.

He put the chips in the slots, reversing the order. The light turned to a flashing yellow for a few tense moments...

Then turned a steady green.

Zachary could see the lens showing his reflection, and a flashing indicator "Hyperlink relay activated, press destination code."

Using the keypad at the top of the recorder, Zachary pressed in an encryption code for BETA that was close to a Crown frequency. Hopefully, the communications monitors wouldn't recognize it as anything other than a fluctuation.

"Begin." the camera flashed.

****

Two Crown guards sat at their post in the communications tower of the Queen's asteroid palace.

"Two minor malfunctions of camera H-83," one guard reported to the waiting Slaverlord.

"Captain Foxx's quarters. Show me the last known recording."

The camera flashed, and showed Zachary lying in bed, tossing and turning in the grip of a nightmare.

"Well," droned the Slaverlord. "He's not much of a threat. We'll have to fix the camera when the captain is out at a 'session.'"

"Communications are within normal frequency range," said the other guard, "But I am reading a slight fluctuation in our hyperlink transmissions. The antenna may be maladjusted."

"Keep me informed," the Slaverlord said before floating through the open portal.

****

After the message was finished, Zachary replaced the original camera configurations, keeping the false image of him sleeping playing in a loop for the guards. He crushed the metal and plastic chips to dust.

He sat at the desk, and poured himself a glass of congac. It would at least give him a little nerve.

Zachary closed his eyes and thought of his children. Zachary Jr and Jessica...he'd held on so long because of them. He'd never see them again. The thought brought tears to his eyes, and the shot of alcohol burning down his throat.

It really was good congac.

He could remember them as infants...holding them in his arms, trading off midnight feedings with Eliza...watching them grow up...their first steps...their first days at school...the nightmares and monsters in the closet. The family spats...watching them with pride.

*I hope you remember,* he thought. *Remember that I love you both.*

He poured another glass, nursing this one a little. 

He closed his eyes, and lingered over memories of Eliza. Her eyes, her smile...the way she felt in his arms...her voice...he panicked as he found himself not remembering a few of the details, but calmed himself in a hurry.

He remembered their first date...their wedding...a few petty squabbles...the mixture of awe and nervousness at learning she was pregnant the first time...kissing her...

Seeing her bound and gagged on the bridge of Kidd's ship, and him being too helpless to do anything for her...

Holding her body in his arms while her life-force crystal sailed upward into the Queen's hand...

The final image brought him enough mad strength to do what he had to do. His bionic hand tightened, crushing the glass.

It was real glass. A large shard rested in his hand, and his palm was cut. Zachary picked up the shard, and turned it until he found the sharpest edge. Turning over his hand, he slashed his right wrist almost to the bone.

He slumped in the chair and just let the blood pool out onto the desk. Even if the Queen was monitoring, hopefully, she couldn't get him in time.

As he lay back and let himself pass into unconsciousness, he felt a small surge of triumph.

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	7. Chapter 7

Chrysalis - Part 7 Bright light above him. It felt warm here, protected.  
*Am I dead?* Zachary wondered for a moment. No, if he were dead, he wouldn't feel this lousy.  
A voice cut through the air. "I'm disappointed in you, Captain."  
The Queen.  
"Damn it all to hell," Zachary muttered.  
The Queen didn't hear him, or pretended not to. "Though I have to admire your determination, especially in tricking the cameras. If I had caught you a half-hour later, there would have been no indication of your actions at all, and you would have been dead." Zachary looked around, he saw he was lying in a regeneration capsule.  
"You've lost quite a bit of blood," the Queen said neutrally. "My guards almost didn't reach you in time."  
"I wish they hadn't," Zachary said bitterly.  
The Queen raised an eyebrow. "Not much gratitude towards someone who just saved your life."  
"I was committing suicide, remember?"  
"I don't want you to die," the Queen said calmly. "I want you to live."  
"Why?"  
The Queen bent down and whispered chillingly in his ear. "That's not important, Captain. You *will* live."  
She straightened. For a moment, Zachary saw something on her face. He debated saying anything about it, but decided to venture it.  
"You're worried, aren't you?" he asked. "Worried that I'll still die on you."  
"I am not worried," she snapped.  
Zachary couldn't help it. His strength and better judgement were shot.  
He laughed darkly. "Well, I'll be damned."  
The Queen whipped around. The expression on her face looked completely wrong for her.  
"What is so funny?" she asked, stressing every syllable.  
Zachary grinned lopsidedly. "For a moment there, you were starting to *sound* like her."   
The Queen's face turned into a mask of black anger. *Go ahead.* Zachary silently challenged. *Take my head off. Turn me into a Slaverlord. Run me through like you did to Niko. I stopped caring a long time ago.*  
The fury was masked over again, turning blank and cold.  
"I admire your attempt to manipulate me, Captain," she said evenly. "But it's not going to work. As soon as you are recovered, I'll put you in your cell and let you contemplate your actions."  
The Queen abruptly spun on her heels and walked quickly out of the room. He could hear her quickened footsteps on the tiled floors.  
*She's scared,* Zachary realized with astonishment. *I don't believe it.*  
*She can't drain the crystal, and she was genuinely frightened when I told her how much she sounded like her...Is it possible that Eliza is her weak spot?*  
The Queen was insulted and enraged. How dare that...that HUMAN claim...?! The Queen summoned her indignant rage and pulled out the large crystal from her pocket.  
"Your mate has proven...most uncooperative, Eliza," she whispered. "Just as you have...Well, I'll show you *both!*"  
Perhaps a long period alone was what the captain needed. Time to sit in silence. She already had the guard take away anything that could be used as a suicide weapon, and redid the camera. Oh, yes. Time to confuse him.

****

But after three days, the experiment had defintitely taken a different turn.  
"The cameras indicate, your majesty, that it is Captain Foxx's eightieth hour without sleep or food."  
"A hunger strike," the Queen realized. "Suicide by a different means."  
Orthallan mused. "He's almost Andorian. Stoic, humorless, and has such an aversion to captivity that he's more dangerous in the cell than outside it."  
The Queen pondered the image on the screen.  
"Shall I inform Delon to have the torture chamber ready?" Orthallan asked.  
"There is a fine line with torture. Too much and the captive no longer feels pain and starts to enjoy it." said the Queen. "Perhaps it is time to try something else...Orthallan, I want to see Captain Foxx in my private chambers. Bring him to me when I send for him."

Zachary was brought to an unfamiliar part of the asteroid palace. The door opened, and Zachary was struck by the smell in the room.  
A banquet. Fresh bread and vegetables, a turkey in the center. The smell brought back memories of holiday dinners. Sitting around the table first with his siblings while his mother nervously prepared everything.  
And later, as he did the cooking himself, for a family of his own. He allowed himself to smile a little at the memories. Eliza was a wonderful wife, but she really couldn't be trusted in the kitchen.  
"Come, Captain," purred the Queen, buttering a roll. "Sit down."  
The Queen's guards pushed Zachary into the chair across the table from her. Zachary sat down, but made no further move.  
"I read a little about human delicacies," she said. "And decided to try some. I must compliment your species. Gherkin cusine is terribly bland."  
Zachary's stomach growled. It would be too easy to just grab the apple taunting him from the fruit bowl within reach.  
"What is this," he asked. "Some sort of trick?"  
"No trick. I've noticed that you haven't eaten in what is now eighty-five hours."  
"I'm not hungry," he said, though it was far from the truth.  
"Come now," said the Queen. "Do you really think I want a prize specimen like yourself pulling a hunger strike?"  
"No," he said. "But I'm not eating."  
The Queen put down the piece of bread she'd been holding. "Don't you appreciate what I've done?"  
"I know what this is, your Majesty. You can make me wear the uniform. You can torture me. You can do whatever you like to me, seeing as you have every advantage here."  
"I could easily kill you, even without the guards," she said menacingly. "Now, I demand you eat."  
"You won't kill me," Zachary said quietly. "And you aren't about to put me in the Psychocrypt, either."  
The Queen stood up. "Don't you dare talk back to me!"  
"I'm tired of your threats, your majesty. Nothing you can do will hurt me anymore."  
The Queen straightened, skeptical.  
"You've taken my friends. You've taken my freedom..." Zachary's voice was dead, tired. Like an old man who was dying and resigned to it. "But you won't kill me because you can't completely conquer her, even though she's part of you."  
The Queen almost looked surprised for a moment, then her mask of cold arrogance was back in place.  
"That's where you're wrong," the Queen said.  
Zachary stood and walked over to her. "Then, why can't you drain her crystal like you can the Gherkins?"  
The Queen was furious, but Zachary managed to block her hand coming for his cheek.  
"Why single me out to torment?" he said. "I thought that it was because I led the Rangers, but it didn't really make sense. I saw you with the crystal, your Majesty. That's when it all made sense. You can't conquer her, so you'll conquer me."  
The guards rushed over to pull him away from the Queen. Zachary backed away, and bowed politely. "Good night, Highness." He passively held out his hands to the guards, and let them lead him out of the room.  
The Queen smashed her fist into the table and shouted a curse in her native tongue. She pulled her cape around her and balled her hands into fists, her lavender skin growing scarlet with incoherant rage.  
That...that...HUMAN!  
She abrubtly turned and exited the room.

The Queen strode into one of her laboratories. "DAMN HIM!!"  
She pulled the crystal from her cloak and put it on the platform. Locking the doors on all sides of the room (and making certain to check the airshafts), she sat in the elaboarate controler's chair of the device.  
The dream machine slowly lowered from the ceiling as she vented her rage to the crystal before her.  
"I don't care if you die. I don't care if he dies," the Queen hissed. "NO ONE challenges the Queen of the Crowns."  
The machine activated at full strength, as the Queen pulled up all the rage and hate from even the darkest recesses of her mind. It was time to show that disobedient captain her full wrath.  
The red light surged through her like the hate. Inside, she heard the life-force of the rebellious human woman scream in protest.

The Queen's guards dumped him on the bed. His face to the soft pillow, the self control was draining from him.  
He must be a mess. It had been two days or was it three? He couldn't fall asleep. He had to stay awake. He couldn't defend himself if he succumbed to sleep.  
He knew he should get back up from the bed. It was too dangerous of a temptation. Too comfortable.  
His body was starting to betray him. God, he was exhausted. Three days with no sleep. He didn't know how much longer he could hold out.  
"Have to stay awake," he muttered into the pillow. "She can't hurt me if I'm awake..."  
But he just didn't have the strength any more. And he was so alone. Maybe dreaming would be a comfort...even nightmares would help.  
*Just a few minutes,* a deceptive part of himself was whispering. *Maybe if I close my eyes for just a few seconds...Sleep...you can sleep for a few minutes...*  
Maybe he would be lucky and this would all be a dream...that's it. *Everything's a dream, Zach, just keep telling yourself that, and you'll be all right...Soon you'll wake up at BETA mountain.*  
Against what was left of his better judgment, Zachary's eyes closed, and the dreams began...

...He found himself back at his home, back on Earth. Was he alone?  
He heard laughter coming from the front room. Feminine...but it wasn't Jessi, it was...  
Oh God...*Eliza...* Could it be?  
He walked out to the front room. Eliza was eating breakfast, her blue eyes raking him over with amusement.  
"You're a sleepyhead today. I was wondering when you'd get up, dear," she teased.  
"Eliza! You're safe! You're here!" Zachary was astonished. It even *felt* real. "Where else would I be?" she said, puzzled.  
"I-" he started to say and stopped short. He walked over, next to her. She reached out and took his hand. Zachary shivered. It was real, solid.  
*This isn't happening...I want it so badly to be true...*  
He pulled her up out of her chair and into a crushing bear-hug. She was warm, solid...even the scent. "Oh God, this is too good to be true."  
She was laughing, "Zachary."  
Suddenly, Eliza's laughter changed. It became deeper and had dark overtones to it. The arms around him stiffened and grew icy, and she grew taller. He opened his eyes to find it wasn't Eliza, but a Slaverlord.  
He gasped, and tried to shove the slaverlord away from him.  
"Oh, no, *dear.*" said the Slaverlord in a twisted hybrid of Eliza's voice and the Queen's. "You're not home at all. You left me behind...and you call yourself a man of your word...Look at yourself!"

The scene wavered and shifted. Zachary felt nauseous.  
He was back in his old home, eight years ago. He was a Ranger Lieutenant, living in Edmonton...What happened? Why was he here?  
He was looking down into the eyes of the 8-year old Zach Jr. "She deserved it!"  
Not fully realizing what he was doing, he answered angrily. "I told you NEVER to hit your sister!"  
"I didn't hit her."  
"I saw you hit her. You just told me she deserved it. Don't lie to me."  
"But DAD."  
Zachary looked down at his "son" in confusion... trying to figure out what was going on...  
Dimly, Zachary realized that he was replaying an incedent...Oh, no. He had been out of patience. At work, everything had gone wrong. He was at wit's end, and Zach Jr's attitude had sent him over the edge. He felt his hand pull back. "You want to hit things?"  
He then did something he swore he'd never do...  
*Oh, God,* Zachary realized. *No. I didn't want to hit him...*  
He pulled back with his left arm and sent a hard punch to the boy's face!  
*No.* Zachary remembered. *That's not how it happened."  
He seemed to be shifting back and forth from observing to pounding the boy. Over and over until the child's broken body had taken fatal damage.

Zach Jr.'s mutilated face looked up at him accusingly. "You lied. You swore you'd never hit me."  
"This isn't how it happened."  
*But it's what you thought...you had thought about this...In your anger and rage...you held it in your thoughts.* It was fully Eliza's voice now.  
*No.*  
*You *thought* it, Zachary,* she said, in a firm, yet oddly non-threatening way. *If only for an instant - you still thought it. That's all this place is. I know you better than you know yourself, darling.*  
The scene shifted. He saw Eliza in front of him. Not the Slaverlord, but as a human woman. The voice coming from her, though, was that of the Queen.  
"Hitting him was uncalled for!" she shouted at him.  
"Eliza, he hit his sister. It won't happen again."   
"It had better not!" she yelled at him. "I'll be damned if you start turning into..."  
"That's enough," Zachary told her, despondant. "I never should have...How did I let my temper get out of line like that? I..."  
He looked up and saw that Eliza was a Slaverlord again.  
"You said you'd never hit him, Zachary," the Slaverlord hissed. "Remember...you said you'd never hit your kids..."

The scene shifted with a jolt that sent him falling into a nearby chair. Looking down at himsalf, Zachary realized what had happened. He was 15 again. He was back in that dismal house, wearing the flannel shirts he favored in winter, feeling the heat from the wood stove, squinting in its dim light, and hearing the grumbling and sound of a whiskey bottle being opened. The smell of sweat and alcohol.  
He looked over, into the kitchen. Alan Foxx, his father, had poured himself another whiskey.  
*Dad? But you died...*

Zachary got out of his seat. He had to get the hell out of here. Back to the present. Back to somewhere other than here if this is what he thought it was...  
Alan Foxx lurched up from his seat and towered over Zachary, blocking the door. Zachary wasn't small, even as a teenager, but Alan was a huge man, and a very mean drunk.  
"You aren't going anywhere. You don't mouth off to me, boy," he slurred. Zachary could smell the alcohol on his father's breath. He was weaving on his feet, and he began a diatribe against his son.  
"You embarrass me, you know that. You ain't gonna amount to nothing..."  
Zachary shivered. NO ONE, save Eliza, knew about this chapter. She'd caught Alan drunk. While he could still think, he cursed the Queen. Leave it to the old bitch to find these memories...leave it to her to use them.  
"I'm going to amount to something," Zachary spat. "I've just applied to the Ranger academy!"  
"Why, you know they won't want you either," Alan laughed again. "Buncha alien lovin' idiots. Whatsa matta, Zach? Don't think humans are good enough for you."  
He punched Zachary in the jaw, sending him into the door so hard that his teeth rattled with the impact. "Who's helping you?"  
Zachary put the back of one hand up against his bloody lip. "Mister and Missus Jackson."   
Alan stumbled back and took another swig of whiskey. "I told you to stay away from them. You still seeing their daughter after I tell you no - after I make ya promise not to see that Eliza girl, you still go behind my back! Never keep yer promises, do you, Zach?" "You can't make me, I LOVE her."  
"Ha! Just what do you know of love, boy?!" Alan scoffed, taking a swig of liquor. "You'll fail her like you fail me. She ain't gonna stay with you..."  
*Fail her...* Zachary thought. *He was right. The old bastard was right.*  
"That's right, Zachary," the Slaverlord said in a parody of Eliza's voice. "You failed me! You not only failed me, you failed our children. You took away their mother!"

Zachary tried to move out of Alan's range, but Alan also shimmered and faded...the white shirt and pants turning into a Slaverlord's robes. "You're aren't going anywhere, SON..."

An abrupt, nauseating lurch...Onboard the *Phoenix*...*Oh, God...not this!*  
"NO! I won't do this! Not again!" Zachary cried out. He wanted to escape this...wanted to run, but he was trapped in the nightmare.  
The hyperlink radio blared, droning like a Crown Guard. "Humans have been taken...Humans have been taken..."  
"Why did you let her die, Daddy?" Jessi asked angrily.  
Zachary couldn't move. He looked around. Slaverlords. They were ALL Slaverlords. He had a hard time finding his breath.  
"You could have saved her." Zach Jr. was staring at Zachary accusingly. "Coward...You left us all behind. She got us away."  
"You ran!" Jessi hissed. "You didn't know or care if we were dead."  
Zozo and Waldo were also there, glaring at him with disapproval. "You'll never amount to anything." Waldo said, sounding eerily like Alan.  
Zachary couldn't seem to catch his breath. He was either sobbing uncontrollably, or he was having a heart attack. He didn't know which. He hoped it was a heart attack. He'd maybe die, and it would stop.  
"You're just a pitiful human! You're not even good for cannon fodder! I don't know why we Andorians thought you could help us." the nightmare Waldo continued.

"You failed your wife, you failed your children, and now you failed the Rangers!" The voice now was Niko, her battered form looking up at him just before the Queen's guard killed her. "I'm sorry, Zach. I tried..."  
"I'm sorry I failed..."  
"I tried and you failed me," Niko said.  
The Slaverlords flanking him were Shane and Doc.  
"You failed us..." accused Shane.  
You broke your word," Doc admonished.  
Shane's Slaverlord hissed. "Another failure. Another person paying for your mistakes."  
"No..." Zachary whispered. "I fought...I..."  
"DID YOU?" Shane yelled. "DID YOU REALLY?"

Then the Queen was in front of him, "You are a failure, Captain Foxx! Your team of 'Series-5' Rangers is gone. Two of them are now my servants, and the *dear* Niko is now dead!"  
She grinned with smug satisfaction. "And now, YOU belong to ME, Captain Zachary Foxx. Your mind is now MINE!" the Queen smiled. It was not a pretty smile, and he was filled with dread....  
He tried to run, but he was falling...falling. Back to that long corridor he'd seen in so many nightmares.  
Eliza stood in the red light of the far end of the corridor, as he'd seen her in many other nightmares, arms open and welcoming...but the smile was ice cold.  
"Come here, Zachary darling," Eliza hissed. "Come here and get what you deserve." He was about to join her in the red light. Pain...The greatest torture souls feel in hell: In hell that they must live and cannot die...*facilis decendus Averno*...And in the lowest depth a lower deep...to which the Hell I suffer seems a Heaven...Day of Wrath, that day of burning...Abandon all hope ye who enters here...  
He got to the border, but a moment of lucidity siezed him, and he froze. *This is the Queen raping your mind! Don't look! Run!*

"NO!" he shouted in denial. "THIS IS ALL A DREAM!"

He turned away from Eliza, from the apparations...from Zachary Jr. and Niko, from the broken bodies, from the accusing faces, from the howls, the screams, the memories...from himself.  
He just kept running and running, finally finding a place of total darkness, and hiding. At least in this darkness, the Queen couldn't harm him. At least here the nightmares wouldn't follow. The silence was opperessive, and he felt like he was swimming in rapids. Sooner or later, the darkness would claim him totally, but Zachary didn't care. Drowning in darkness was better than the endless torture of light.  
He never even remembered waking up.

[Part 8][1]

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	8. Chapter 8

Chrysalis Part 8 The bed seemed too big for Niko. Indeed, she seemed to have collapsed in on herself. Her breathing was shallow, and her forehead was almost painfully hot and dry. A rictus of anguish and mourning contorted her usually beautiful face. She was paler than the sheets she lay on.  
Ariel's eyes burnt with unshed tears, and her stomach was tied in knots. *Ever since you got here, you've been acting like you want to kill yourself out of grief. Why can't you find it in you to live?*

"The fever is worse. At least she doesn't have pnumonia." Kahlen was exhausted and amazed. "Gods, we're lucky that the sentry saw her staggering about. She would have beed dead by morning."

Ariel wrung her hands in worry. "I should of sensed it, Kahlen. I knew she was bonded on some level or another to her friends. She told me that they were gone...I guess she wanted to join them."

Ariel didn't dare try to send a thought to Niko. Last time she tried, the poor girl failed to recognize her. All she got was an insane whirlwind, survivor's guilt being a prominent emotion.  
To make matters worse, it was as if Niko's mind was one, raw and painful wound, with shards of glass for shields. Ariel tried not to think of how she'd found the girl, cowering and cold next to the bodies of her parents, trapped in a pile of rubble that had once been the family's home.  
"The good news," said Kahlen. "If you can call it such, is that a good part of her is determined to live. She'll definitely make a full physical recovery."

The door creaked open, admitting D'Len once more. The rarely-seen sorceress was known for never showing worry or fear, but the look on her face at the moment showed a great deal of both.

"Mistress D'Len," Kahlen stood, almost at attention.

She spoke directly to Ariel. "Ariel, child. Your student - will she be all right?"

"The fever's gone down a little, but it hasn't broken," Ariel said.

"But," warned Kahlen. "Everyone MUST be fully shielded before coming into contact with her. Any kind of mental contact could be fatal at this stage."

"I understand," D'Len. "I came here to inform you both that when she does awaken, I will help her rehabilitation myself."

Ariel was somewhat puzzled, and mildly affronted. D'Len was the most ancient of the Circle members, but Ariel had trained Niko since childhood. "She is my pupil, Mistress. I know her gifts better than anyone."

"Ariel Dal'Elspeth," admonished D'Len. "This is not a time to question. Your pupil is deathly ill. You will certainly help, but what has been done to Niko is very old sorcery, and beyond what you've encountered."

"Yes," Ariel said reluctanly. "It would appear that way. What did this to her, Mistress D'Len?"

"Even I don't know," D'Len said flatly. "But I have my suspicions."

"Suspicions?" Ariel looked up from Niko for a moment.

But D'Len was already gone. Kahlen had left with her. Ariel looked down at her unconscious student.  
"Oh, Niko dear, just *what* have you run into that has the Circle Elder so upset? You always wanted to travel on your own, but look what it has done to you."

She looked up at the door Kahlen and D'Len had vanished behind. "Something's very wrong here."

****  
Again, awakening...again remembering...and the awful pain.  
The memories were a little clearer. she remembered Doc stuffing her into the shuttle, and starting the countdown. Just when he was so close to escaping himself, he was hit. He'd done it to save her. If he left her behind, then he would have gotten away...  
She didn't have the strength. She couldn't save him...she couldn't save any of them... She lay limply back against the pillows, and let the tears flow down her cheeks.  
*I've let them die...No, worse than death...* she thought. *Oh, Gods...The Queen.*

"Doc..." she sobbed. "I'm so sorry..."

She heard someone calling her name, ordering her to wake up. A grey-eyed face stared into her own. Hands steadied her shoulders.  
"Niko, dear, *please* tell me what happened..." the voice begged her.  
She looked at the face without recognition, lost in haunting memories.  
The familiar voice jarred her out of her disorientation. "Niko, dear. Please, it's Ariel. You're going to be all right."

"Ariel?" She frowned. "How? Where am I?"

"You're on Xanadau," Ariel said, smoothing a lock of hair away from Niko's cheek. "You're safe."

"Oh, Ariel, it was awful. The Queen...I had to leave Doc behind...I let Shane get put in...and Zachary..." Her words didn't make coherant sense, but neither did much at the moment.  
Ariel gathered Niko up in her arms and let her cry herself out against her shoulder, doing her best to comfort the distraught young woman. "It's all right, child. You're safe. Your shuttle came here, and you're all right."

"But, the team... they're NOT all right..."

"Your friends?" Ariel asked.

Niko nodded against Ariel's shoulder. "Oh, Gods. Doc and I made it to the shuttlebay, but he got hit with a stun blast. I couldn't drag him aboard the shuttle." She couldn't say anything past that.

"It's all right, dear," Ariel said. "You can rest."

"I can't... I have to go back and rescue them from the Queen!" Niko protested, and made another move to get up.

"You're injured, Niko. You are staying here until you are well," Ariel said sternly. "If you left now, you wouldn't even make it out the door before you fell flat on your face." Ariel told her flat-out.

"I just can't leave them..." Niko tried to protest.

"Niko, you won't do them OR yourself any good if you try and rescue them now," Ariel tried to reason with her.

Niko sighed, realizing that Ariel was not going to let her even think about it at the moment. She relaxed a little. "I feel awful."

"My dear, if 'awful' is the worst you feel right now, then you ought to be grateful," Ariel told her with a wry smile. She helped Niko lay back against the pillows, and said, "From what the healers tell me, you are even lucky to be alive."

Niko's eyes teared up again, "Lucky? no.... I don't think so, Ariel. The Queen...I don't know why. She just kept battering and battering...Don't know why..." she corrected herself. "No, I know why..."

Tears flowed freely down Niko's cheeks as she recalled the mental games the Queen had played with her...  
"Child, why? What is it?"

Niko swallowed. "The Queen...The team and I...We were captured." The red-haired woman frowned. "The old witch just wanted to make us suffer, that's all. She...Gods, Ariel. She's like one of us...Energy control, Thought-Sense, FarSeeing...Only, she draws her strength by creating pain."

Ariel tried to comfort her, but didn't know what to say.  
The healer, Kahlen arrived finally and Ariel motioned for her to come into the room.  
She looked back at Niko and said, "You need your rest, child."

After a few days, Niko's fever broke, though portions of her mind still felt like broken glass.  
Kahlen had advised her to stay abed for a couple more days, despite all Niko's protests to the contrary.  
One afternoon, she was blearing awake from a bored nap to hear voices outside her room. Kahlen, and someone else. Niko couldn't sense anything, nor did she want to try.  
Concentrating on the voice, she tried to think of where she heard it before.

The door creeked open, ad mitting a tall woman with lavender skin and garnet eyes. Niko shivered and drew back for a moment until she realized that this woman wasn't her attacker, but rather another of the same species.

The tall, ancient woman drew up a chair and sat down. Niko marvelled at the grace with which she carried herself, a grace that would have the best ballet dancers green with envy.

"Hello, Niko," the woman said gently. "You may not remember, but I am Mistress D'Len."

"As in the Master Sorceress D'Len? Why are you here? Ariel told me you never left the Old Castle...that you were there to protect artifacts."

"Lannon is doing that job for me right now," she said with a gentle smile. "But I'm glad to see you're awake."

"I don't know if I am," muttered Niko honestly.

D'Len nodded. "Yes, I know of your loss."

"It's not helping that everything, body and mind alike, feel like they're burning all the time. It just won't stop."

"You are injured on many levels, Niko. Which is why Ariel agreed to let me help you. Already, I've done what I can for you in healing-trance."

Niko closed her eyes and did an internal search. "It's like a lot of me's been amputated. I can't sense anything."

"That's to prevent you from hurting yourself or other people with a Gift gone out of control."

"I need to leave. The shuttle?"

"Was destroyed in the landing. I'm afraid that you have no way off Xanadau. In light of your injuries, the Council agreed with me to keep you here."

"Mistress," she said hoarsely. "I was carrying something, I think. A large red crystal...with a human face inside it if you held it to light...Where is it? I need to know..."

D'Len nodded solemnly. "Yes, you did bring some sort of artifact. A red shard of crystal." The healer's voice was quiet. "But I'm afraid that it shattered when the shuttle crashed."

Niko's face registered shock, then the worst pain. All warmth drained from her. Everything was thown into the chaos again.

D'Len gently brushed Niko's face. "I am sorry."

Niko's eyes closed, and hopless tears streamed down her face. "The crystal...he's gone. Oh, Shane...I couldn't..."

A dry cloth wiping the tears. "Survivors have a unique pain, Niko. He, and your other friends, are now one with the universe. They are, and always will be, part of your spirit." "The pain won't stop, Mistress."

D'Len gave no answer. There was a long pause, as neither wanted to talk anymore. The old sorceress only watched in silence. Niko's body shook with sobs, but there was no sound. No sound at all.

After what seemed like forever, D'Len touched Niko's forehead.

"You are a twice-over survivor, Niko Dal'Ariel. You need to heal."

"My people...the humans..."

"This is your home, Niko, and we are your people," DLen said firmly before walking out the door, and closing it behind her.  
All Niko could do was allow herself to mourn.

With the help of Kahlen, D'Len, Ariel, and a bevy of other healers, Niko managed to gain her physical strength rapidly. She still wasn't fully healed, though. Angry welts and burns still ached from the torture session she had at the Queen's palace, but that wasn't what ached the most. Her mind felt like it was in shreds, and her spirit still ached with terrible loss.  
D'Len moved her to a chamber of the Old Palace, and drilled her on shielding day and night. Niko's shields were toughened to the point where she couldn't sense anything. In a way, it was like being locked up all over again. At least it didn't hurt.  
Within a couple of days, Niko was driving herself to get up to walk. Soon, she had the strength to start running. Kahlen expressed concern at first, so the lessons and physical activity was kept fairly light until some of the nastier physical injuries healed, but the activity was enough to wear her out so badly that her rogue gifts couldn't cause trouble.  
For Niko, it was the same routine day after day. Stone walls surrounding her when she woke up, learning how to put up walls in her mind to the point where she was mind-blind. Lastly, she collapsed into a hard bed, and miserable, dreamless sleep.  
The only comfort she got was by running. Every chance she got, she would leave the Old Palace and just run as far and as fast as she could manage. Even that wasn't freedom, but it was the best she got.

One night, Niko came to the Old Palace quite late. D'Len was scratching something down in a large leather book, and didn't look up as Niko came in.

"You are late."

"Yes, Mistress," Niko answered. "I'm afraid I was running too far."

"You seem to be doing that a lot. Tell me why."

Niko was taken aback. She thought a moment. "I don't know. I just...it's like I have to run, to get out of all this."

"You mean," D'Len was looking up at her with sharp garnet eyes. "You want to run far from here. Part of you still wants to dash into oblivion with your friends. I'll have none of it, Niko."

Now, she was frustrated. "My mind's blocked. I'm cooped up in here all day. If you let me have spare time, why shouldn't I be able to run?"

"Your mind is blocked for a reason. You're dangerous, Niko, and danger must be caged until the danger has passed."

"And when will that be? A month? A year?"

"The blocks will be removed when I feel it safe to let them down," D'Len said harshly.

Niko had a sharp comment on the tip of her tongue, but D'Len had pulled herself to full height. 

"You will stay here and spend the entire day to help me with the library. That ought to take your mind off running for a while."

"Mistress," Niko was starting to seethe.

D'Len came over and patted Niko on the shoulder. "Kahlen told you about the river. I don't want you to start dashing off like that. Grief is still too strong in you."

"I lost three people very dear to me. Why shouldn't I be grieving?"

"I can block your memories. You'll forget them."

Niko winced at the very thought. "No."

"The Circle did that to you when you first came here, you know," said D'Len. "When you were just a little girl..."

"I'm not a little girl anymore, D'Len," Niko said. "And I don't want to forget. I just want to leave Xanadau."

"And go where?" said D'Len.

"Earth, back to BETA," said Niko. "They're in danger."

"Does your Gifts tell you this?"

"No, common sense. When I was imprisoned, I heard things about an invasion. My people will die if -"

"We, on Xanadau, are your people, Niko. You renounce ties like that when you come here."

"I wasn't old enough to know what I was giving up," Niko snapped. "Is this how you and the other Circle Members keep everyone else here?"

D'Len held her ground. "No, because unlike you, they don't stray too far or get attached to the outside. Whatever goes on past this planet is transitory, and not our concern."

"Maybe it should be," Niko said. "Now, do you have anything else for me to do?"

D'Len thought for a few seconds. "I don't believe so."

Niko nodded and left the room.

She trudged up the stairs to her chamber, closing the door behind her.  
The Circle had approved her tour of duty as a Ranger, but no doubt they only expected her to serve a term, then gracefully quit and return to the Motherworld. Everything was to be here. Spending your life off-world...  
Could she think of anyone else who had done so? Sure, there were sabaticals - two years off to study other places, to travel.  
Counting her years at the Academy, Niko had been living outside the Circle for almost six years.  
*A Circle incomplete...* she thought, recalling something Ariel had once told her, *Always seeks to complete itself.*  
Stone, cold stone, were the walls and floor and ceiling. One window, and a bed. Everything always felt opperessive here. Was it possible that she had just traded one prison for another? Or was it just some sort of latent death-wish asserting itself?  
*D'Len's right. I am dangerous, but what's the real danger?*  
She sat on the edge of the bed and stared out the window.

The door to the Old Palace creeked open, and Ariel walked in. One thing she had passed to her adoped daughter was a sense of bravery. Not much intimidated the mage, and she had no intentions to let much do so.

She closed the door behind her and climbed the stairs to the study. Opening the door, and walking in, Ariel walked right up to the desk.

"Good evening, D'Len."

D'Len looked up. "Ariel Dal'Elspeth, you know that the Old Palace..."

"Nothing ever said it was off-limits, D'Len. Normally, no one has any business in coming."

"What brings you here, Ariel?"

"It should be very obvious. I want to speak to Niko. It's been almost two weeks. I've even tried to mind-touch her, but the blocks are too great."

"The blocks are for her safety, and everyone else's."

"D'Len, the kind of shields you have on her are so thick that even I wouldn't be able to summon my Gifts through them. Niko needs to be trained with her Gifts, not have them amputated."

"And who are you to tell me how to teach a student?"

"I'm the person who's trained her all her life. I'm the person who knows her best on this planet, and for all intents and purposes, I'm also her mother."

D'Len was not amused. "I can see where Niko has developed her lack of respect."

"I taught her to think for herself," Ariel said. "And to question the things she's been told. If nothing else, I'm proud of her for that."

"Didn't Elspeth teach you reverence?"

"Elspeth taught me a great many things, but I'm afraid I was too old a bird when the Circle found me."

"We've taken older," said D'Len dismissively.

"Still, when you have people swear off their ties, most of them are too young to know what they were swearing away. At least I knew what I had given up. It's a fair trade to me, but to my student, it might not be anymore."

"Her love of machines...of war..."

"Niko does have an affinity for technology, true," Ariel countered. "But without it, you'd still be part of the MegaMind. For that matter, her friend helped to save your life. If she chooses not to forget him, then it's her own business."

"But can't she be content with sabatticals?"

Ariel pushed up her glasses. "D'Len, she's seen more than Xanadau. You and the Circle have, over the generations, become even more xenophobic. Hardly anyone ventures past the colonies. Quite sad, really."

"Even you, Ariel, are no exception to that."

"It's because I see no reason to. When Elspeth found me, I was already a well-travelled and well-educated widow. It was time for me to move on. I'd never had a child, though, so finding Niko was quite the blessing." She cleared her throat. "Now, where is she? You won't let her go see me, so I came to see her."

"She is resting."

"Never mind," said Ariel. "I'll go and find her myself."

Ariel turned and left abruptly.

Ariel wandered around the palace until she found a slightly ajar door, and walked in. She found Niko sitting on the bed, staring out a window.

"It's still a cage," Niko said to no one in particular. "And I don't know what's worse, having everything burning, or being sealed up in the cold."

"Niko?" asked Ariel. "Is it safe to come in all the way?"

Niko brightened and sprung to her feet, she walked over to her mentor and gave her a great big hug. "Oh, Ariel. I was wondering when D'Len would let you come see me."

"I'm afraid I invited myself, Niko dear."

"What? Oh."

"I don't like this. In all my years on this planet, I've never run across someone as secritive, or as tight-fisted as D'Len. I think it's product of spending so much of her time locked up in this miserable place."

"I know what you mean," said Niko. "Everything feel like a prison, and she doesn't like it when I leave here."

"Odd," grumbled Ariel. "I've NEVER heard of a mentor putting restrictions on their students like that."

"Ariel," Niko said. "There is something wrong. D'Len is teaching me all of the shields, and no control excercises. They're too strong to let down now, and even if I did, I'd be just as bad as when I awoke. It just doesn't...feel right."

"No control excercises? Does she have you using your Gifts at all?"

"She won't even let me try to do something other than shielding. It's as if she doesn't *want* me to regain my Gifts."

"I know," Ariel said. "She is definitely hiding something."

"But what? And why?"

"That's something I'm afraid you'll have to find out on your own. You're more the detective than I am, Niko dear."

Niko smiled wryly. "I'll see what I can find out."

She stood and hugged Ariel good-bye, suddenly feeling more hope - and more determination than she had ever since arriving.

[Part 9][1]

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   [2]: fanfic.html



	9. Chapter 9

Chrysalis - Part 9 Hours later, after D'Len had fallen asleep, Niko went wandering through the Old Castle, up and down corridors she hadn't explored, and a few she had. With her days so tightly regimented by D'Len, she'd taken every opportunity to get out of the Palace.  
It was time to stop running.  
Upstairs and down, down hallways that felt like circles. Niko opened one door after another, to find them either sealed by magic, or holding nothing but stones, focuses, and othe magical items. right now, she wasn't interested in amything but answers.  
Finally, she came to a door that had been sealed by a strong magical lock. Niko looked down on her piece of vellum and made a note of where it was. There. Everything connected. She now had a rough map of all the places she could go in the Palace.  
Niko walked back to D'Len's study, and opened the door, holding out the small lantern before her.  
Books. Volumes of books. D'Len was always writing. there must have been several centuries' worth of archives in this room alone!  
*Time for a little archeology...Start at the top layer, and escavate from there.*  
What was she writing now?  
The book on the desk. Niko turned to a printed page and read a random paragraph.

**Niko's shields are holding, and will continue to hold until the threat has passed. She's still expressing a wish to return, though it would be suicide. I must make every effort to keep her restricted to the Old Palace if possible. Her mind will be tightly controlled, and her actions closely watched until she's unable to pase a danger to Xanadau. My goal at this moment is to render her powerless...**

Niko looked up, and frowned. So D'Len had no intention of letting her restore her Gifts. But why? She couldn't be THAT much of a danger could she?

She leafed back to the first entry in the book.

**Jesset had the same drives. With Jesset, greed had been the motivator. In Niko's case, it is curiosity. Curiosity, however, could very likely bring about a repeat of the Scrounge, and the Great Battle. Xanadau cannot and will not weather this again. For the safety of all, I have decided to protect Niko from her own Gifts...**

"Jesset?" Niko murmured. "Who's Jesset?" The name sounded remotely familiar, but Niko couldn't recall from where.

Niko paged through more and more of the book. It kept making allusions that she was dangerous, and needed to be caged by either keeping her on Xanadau, putting her under tight shield or both. The reasons why were not stated, except as allusions to this "Jesset" person.  
*But who was she?*

Grabbing a scroll from a dusty shelf, Niko walked to the door. She stopped and held her breath.  
Footsteps. Far away...no right above her.  
D'Len was awake. If that was the case, she'd be looking for anything disturbed on her desk. Niko arranged everything back the way it was carefully. She stole out of the room, clutching her lantern, map and the scroll, and running down the corridors with all the stealth as if she were dodging Crown Agents in Sorry End.  
Memories flooded back, and it was overwhelming for a moment.  
*No, she couldn't stop...not now.*

Niko came to the door near the staircase. A forcefield was up. Niko looked on the scroll, and read the archane words.  
Nothing, and the footsteps were getting closer.  
She tried again, and the forcefield abated. Niko dashed up the staricase, and repeated the siblant phrase, blocking the way behind her.  
It was a vast room - some sort of secret library. Niko concentrated, and tried to shield herself as best she could.  
The footsteps beneath her came and went, fading away. She was safe - for now.

The library was large, filled with dusty treatises and books. Niko put down her lantern, and picked up a very large, dusty volume. She opened to a page.

**Jesset's study of the Black Arts was chronicled in a leather and vellum book. This book, *The Treatise of Power,* outlined the three guiding principles of her philosophy...**

Niko shuddered as she took in the overview of Jesset's twisted ideals. She always spoke of domination, of control, of taking power from others to feed one's self.  
She had heard someone say these words before, but when and where?   
*But how could she have been part of this world? Our strongest law is that one's mind belongs to one's self...*  
Then again, D'Len was skating the fine edge of THAT philosophy. Niko frowned and read on. 

**For her theft of lives, and violations of her homeworld's strongest law, Jesset was exiled from Xanadau, taking her followers with her. From that moment on, she was never to be spoken of.**

All the references were cryptic. Jesset was a Death-Mage, feeing on pain and suffering to create magical energy. While it was a quicker path to great power, Life-Magic from the Circle proved itself stronger.

Much of the book devoted itself to the varities of Death-Magic rituals and artifacts. Jesset's sword had sacrificed the blood of enemies. Machines and Death-Magic worked well together, a systematic destruction of organic flesh...  
The anti-technology hatred in the book...Niko wrinkled her nose. By the standards in this book, her friends would have been condemned the instant they touched on Xanadau.  
Unconsiously, she felt behind her right ear. There was an almost undetectable lump where the implant rested.  
Almost every book here was some sort of writing about Death-Magic - including its history, its effects...  
*Small wonder it's locked up so tightly, and kept a secret!*  
Niko looked up. Out the corner of her eye, she saw...no, more *sensed* a red light. She put the book down, still open.  
Turning around, she could see that there was a small stone shelf, displaying several bright red, hexegonal crystals. All but one were dead and cold. The one that still did hold life was...was...  
She gasped as she touched it. The crystal itself was pure psychic energy, imprisoned by something so basely *evil,* that Niko was sickened to be in contact with it for very long. In the dim light, she could see a face trapped in the crystal like a fly in amber. Niko let out a startled gasp and would have dropped the crystal if she dared...  
*Goose!*  
She picked it up, and just held the crystal in her hands, her hands lit by the faint, red glow eminating from it.  
D'Len was lying to her. She'd been lying to her the *whole damn time!*  
It had something to do with Jesset and her Death-Magic, and Niko *had* to know what it was exactly. There was more at stake here than satiating her curiosity.  
If D'Len found her, though...  
Niko snatched the book, and the crystal. Saying the incantation to let down the forcefield, and raise it behind her, Niko consulted her map for a second, and bolted out of the Old Palace as fast as her legs could take her.  
She ran to where she instinctively felt safe - her old room in the Mages' Hall. Niko dashed up the stairs, and the chambers ajacent to Ariel's. Closing and locking the outer door, Niko sat on her old bed and tore through the book with a vengeance.

The purple and grey streaks of dawn had flooded through the window when Niko finished the book.  
"It might not be true," she said. "But if it is...it makes sense...at the same time it doesn't. I only wish I had the missing pieces."

She put the book aside and picked up the crystal. No matter what...she would leave Xanadau. She didn't care if she died in the attempt.

The door bridging the two chambers creaked open, and Ariel gasped. Quickly recovering, she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.  
Niko didn't seem to notice her. A red crystal pulsed in her hands, and she stared at it, lost in thought, tears running down her cheeks.  
She approached the bed, and sat next to Niko. The face on the crystal told Ariel all she needed to know. Niko wrote to her quite often, and she often talked about her teammates and friends. Ariel also was one of the few who knew about the love in her life...  
And it was his face that stared at them from the crystal.  
"It would appear that D'Len's been lying to us all."

"Yes," she says, turning to look at Ariel, and brushing the tears off her cheeks. "I have to re-integrate myself and get off this planet, or at least try everything."

"You'll die if you fight with your people."

"You let me risk my life as a Ranger. I am a Ranger, and if I'm to die as one, I'll die as one. No matter what the council says, I'm going back. I have to. I have to at least make the attempt to rescue my friends. I just can't leave them to the 'tender mercies' of the Queen. She's a Death-Mage, Ariel. That's why she was able to do what she did."

Ariel nodded. "I can tell you that Mistress D'Len is trying to keep you here. She even told me not to interfere with your rehabilitation." Ariel frowned. "It's no secret that there are a few people who fear you. You're quite formidable when you set your mind to it."

Niko looked up. "I've been reading a few things. I think that the Forbidden Chambers may have the answers I'm looking for. There's just something about the Legend of Jesset that I can't stop thinking about. I think it's...connected to all this."

"Child, if you go there, I cannot help you."

Niko closed her eyes and nodded. "but it is the only way. I have to accept my new Gifts. I can't stay on Xanadau." Niko's voice dropped. "I have to do this...I *want* to do this."

"I understand, Niko," said Ariel. "But I cannot help you if you want to explore the tower."

Niko stood up. "I understand, Ariel. I wouldn't ask you to go with me."

"In the meantime, Niko," said the elderly sorceress. "You need to get some rest. Not another word, now. Get under those covers and shut your eyes. Something like the Forbidden Chambers can exhaust me, so I know that you'll need every advantage you can get."

"But what if D'Len comes asking for me?"

"Then, my child, I will shield myself and I will lie."

"Thank you, Ariel," said Niko, getting settled, and taking Ariel's advice. "For everything."

[Part 10][1]

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   [2]: fanfic.html



	10. Chapter 10

Chrysalis - Part 10 Niko pulled the cloak tighter around her as she walked towards the Old Palace, and the Tower.  
The Tower was a short distance away from the reamins of the Old Palace, as if it had once been attached, but the wind attaching the two had fallen away long ago. The dark stone colossus loomed above her menacingly, its battle-blackened exterior a sharp contrast to the polished white libraries and quarters of the New Collegum.  
The night sky above her was cloudy, obscuring the view of the moons.  
Niko squared her shoulders. Even if she didn't remember why she'd come, she remembered why she had to confront her doubts.  
The spells in the book may have been born of Death-Magic, but the entire keep responded to it, and it was her only way in.  
Speaking a short spell to disable the lock, Niko opened the door, and began to decend the stairs, back down to the Forbidden Chamber.  
It was completely dark, save the small lantern Niko had brought with her. The steep steps were a good place for one to fall and break their neck. She took the desent slowly and cautiously. An ominous dread and fear started to well up, and tried to overwhelm her.  
*An alarm,* she thought. *To prevent people from even *wanting* to come this far.*  
Digging further into herself to go on, she fought the fear and dread, continuing down the seemilgly endless flight of stairs.  
Then, she realized. *The stairs ARE endless. I've passed this mark on the wall twice!* Niko looked to her side, seeing only a dark descent.  
*Here goes nothing,* she thought, and jumped.  
She seemed to fall forever, finally hitting the stone floor with the grace of a cat. Niko smiled as she picked herself off the floor. At least her instincts were working.  
A faint glow came from the far distance. Walking down another hallway, Niko came to a place where a door glowed with a magical lock.  
She swallowed, and recited another spell she had found.  
"By order of Sorceress and Scholar," she concluded it, "I demand you open."

The door remained closed. Niko was just about to turn away, when the door started to glow dimly, and open silently. Exhaling with relief, Niko walked inside.  
The room was as tall as the High Chamber of the Temple, supported by columns of black marble, and a high, domed ceiling.  
Stumbling a bit as her eyes adjusted to the dark, Niko found two small oil lamps. Using an old-fashioned tinder box, Niko lit the two lamps, and gasped at what their dim light revealed.  
Ritual artifacts, rich tapestries, artwork with magical charge, bookshelves with leather-bound tomes and silk scrolls.  
And, in between the lamps, Niko saw a stand with a large, heavy book, and a short, gold-edged sword. Everything in this room felt evil.  
Niko picked up the blade, and felt its weight. It was light, but sturdy - a weapon designed for a woman's hand.  
She pulled open the book. It was a chronology in some ancient language she couldn't really understand. She could puzzle out a few words, though, and started to try and read the rest.  
It told the story of some sort of battle, and of Jesset. Niko read, but found herself frustrated by what she still failed to translate.  
Keeping at it, she was able to translate a few sections.

**The most powerful of Jesset's spells was the ability to pull Life-energy and imprison it in a Death-magic artifact. Jesset found the crystals to be a more effective form of harnessing life-energy than that of the blood-sacrifice...*  
Life energy? Crystal?

**At all costs, this must be stopped from happening again. The Artifacts must be entombed or destroyed, and protected above ALL OTHER laws of our planet. If another with the same powers were to emerge...dangerous...*

*Dangerous* recalled Niko. Yes, D'Len thought she was dangerous. It was clear now.  
Niko's hand curled around the blade.  
Midway through the heavy book, she heard the sound of a door being shut. Niko turned around to face Mistress D'Len.  
"D'Len," Niko said, coming closer. "What is this place?"

"You aren't supposed to be here, Niko," D'Len said.

Niko kept her hand on the sword. "You didn't want me to know about this chamber. You also wanted to keep me from restoring my Gifts."

"You weren't supposed to ever use magic again," D'Len said, stunned. "Your shields...to use your Gift would only damage you now. Later on, after you've healed..."

"After I'm unable to summon them again, you mean," she said. "D'Len, I know why you want me under control, and I know why you've kept me from Ariel."

She pulled out the sacrificial blade, let the old sorceress get a good look at it, and then held it to D'Len's throat. "I know this world's dirty little secret. This blade belonged to the Jesset the Exile. She's the one who attacked me - the one who imprisons souls in crystal," Niko said.

D'Len didn't move, despite the knife just barely touching her carotid artery. "Yes, Jesset Dal'Kest is the one you call the Queen of the Crowns. Her full title is, by the way, Queen Jesset, Student of Kest, holder of the Crowns of Xanadau. You've done well, Niko Dal'Ariel, but all you've done is endanger yourself further."

"How so?" She wasn't about to move, either. It wasn't like she would murder D'Len, but she wanted answers, and wasn't going to back down unless she recieved some.

"How much have you read of Jesset Dal'Kest's writings?"

Niko quietly recited the three basic thesises of Jesset's writing. "The weak are destined to be ruled by the strong, and the strong are destined to rule the weak. The powerless are incapable of shaping their own destiny, and must have their fate shaped by the powerful," Niko took a deep breath. "And the superior gain their power from the life-force and labor of the inferior."

There was a long pause before D'Len's expression changed. She turned and sat on a pile of cushions.  
Niko sat across from the ancient mage, hand still curled around the antique weapon.  
"Tell me, D'Len," Niko ordered. "What happened?"

D'Len closed her eyes. Magic didn't work in this chamber, so there was only the dim light of the two small oil lamps Niko had lit, and those were hard on her old eyes.  
D'Len explained, "Jesset was once the most gifted sorceress on Xanadau. She was also a brilliant scholar. Indeed, she was the very finest this world could produce. Her people were the species who once ruled this planet. As they were wealthy and prosperous, they had achieved technological prowress as well, and started to find and foster children of other species and other worlds to raise in their manner."

"So Jesset was a Teacher."

"Indeed, she held the powers of a Master. Of course, there were those among her people with more wisdom, and they were able to reign in Jesset. For you see, part of the reason she was such a great scholar and mage was due to her greed. She was obsessed with power and knowledge, and passed on the obsession to her students. In many ways, she was admirable."

Niko was stunned. She had never expected her attacker to be referred to with this much reverence.  
"Jesset's obsession grew so slowly that no one noticed until it was too late. She started researching into ancient traditions - Dark Magic traditions. She secretly started to write her masterpiece - the Book we have sealed up here."

"And the knife was used for blood-magic?"

"Blood magic, and Death magic," D'Len admitted shamefully. "She had gathered around her a small circle of Dark Mages, and started to gain too much power. She also started to augment her magic with technology, enhancing her own Gifts through machines, controlling energy through weapons. She was powerful and charasmatic as a soldier as well. I was once her student, D'Len Dal'Jesset."

Niko couldn't suppress the gasp that escaped her throat.  
"Jesset had gathered her forces, and started to wage war against her enemies. Her intent was conquest. Once she had Xanadau, she could easily take the entire Galaxy. Many...many good sorcerers, and virtually all of her people, died out in the conflict. I was young, and still able to be saved. As a form of self-punishment, I stay here in the Old Palace, and guard my former mentor's works so that no one else can put them to use. When I die, Lannon will take my place."

"But Jesset was defeated?"

"Only by luck, and a few overconfident mistakes on her part. The victors punished her by exile. She and her followers were put on a single ship. Her books, ritual artifacts, and wealth were confiscated. But it was too late. Her civilization was gone, and only a few Scholars and Mages remained."

"And formed the Circle of Thought," Niko realized. "I had never known. Every student is taught that this world was colonized by the Circle. It's a lie."

"No," D'Len answered. "It is the truth, at least from a certain point of view, as are many of our Truths."

Niko's brow furrowed, and her eyes narrowed, but she was prepared to wait D'Len out.

"This world was devestated, sick, and dying. The Circle used their magic to restore it." D'Len opened her eyes, and added seriously, "And to hide it. We knew that if Jesset, or another like her, found this place, all that we had worked for would be destroyed."

"A reason not to allow outsiders in," Niko muttered. "And the reason that you wanted to render me harmless."

"You are powerful, Niko. Even as a small child, I knew that you had a great Talent, both as a Mage, and as a Scholar. I feared the worst for you. You could easily become another Jesset. Ariel also knew this, which was one reason why she hasn't taken on other pupils."

"My implant," she realized. "Technology enhancing my Mage-Gift. I never understood..."

"Not just the implant, Adept Niko, but your willingness to go off to fight battles. I saw in you what we saw in Jesset. If you turned to Evil, this entire world would be in danger."

Niko never took her eyes from D'Len. "You know that I can't stay here. There has to be a way for me to handle my Gifts, and not lose my mind."

"There is," said D'Len, "But it is very powerful, and very risky."

Niko stood, and stared down at D'Len. "Then tell me about it."

"In the Vault of Change, located above us, there is a secret Chamber. In there, lies a powerful shard from a metor that crashed into Xanadau ten thousand generations ago. We call it Chrysalis."

"Chrysalis?"

"To accept the light of Chrysalis," warned D'Len, "Is to accept the possibility of total change. It can heal you - or it can destroy you. Any way the ritual of Chrysalis is performed, you will not emerge the same."

"How will I be different?" Niko asked.

"No one can say," said D'Len. "But you will change in ways you never dreamed of or expected. You may even lose the very memories you seek to regain. You could very likely lose your life."

"If the ritual is successful?"

"Then your Gifts will fully awaken, and your mind will be healed."

Niko looked down at the blade still in her fingers. "If it is the only possibility to re-integrate myself, Mistress, then I'll take the risk." Her lips curled into a wry smile. "I seem to recall an old saying - 'no guts, no glory."

****

Walsh looked down at them. Most of the pilots, technicians, engineers, and crew were hardly older than children. Fresh young faces. Would they live a full life? How many of them would die quickly, in battle? How many more would wither in a Psychocrystal?

"I have only a few words," he said. "As I hate speeeches."

A few titters of laughter down on the flight deck.  
"As you know, I was one of the first people to ever be commissioned as a Galaxy Ranger. I have spend a lifetime serving my planet, and later, the League of Planets. Today, our beloved League, and for the humans I see here, our species, is threatened by an alien evil."

He continued, his eyes fixing on the variety of blue and white Ranger uniforms in the crowd.  
"You have all taken an oath to protect and serve this League, and tomorrow you will. Many of you will not return, but you will be remembered. The battle we face will determine the fate of billions of people. Kiwi and Andorian, as well as human. When you take to your posts, remember this. You're fighting for your parents, your friends, your lovers, your spouces - even your children, born and yet-to-be-born."

Walsh could hear the almost-inaudible whine of Nagata's repulsorlift unit next to him. It was very comfortable to have his old friend nearby at a time like this.  
"There was an old saying on Earth that I heard as a cadet. It was the motto of the Texas Rangers, who you could call the ancestors of our Galaxy Rangers - 'A small man can whip a big man if the small man is in the right and keeps a'coming.' We're fighting for the innocent, and maybe if we keep a'coming, we won't prove those old Rangers wrong."

A thunderous applause went up from the crowd as Walsh stepped down from the podium. He silently went off down the corridor.

Commander Joseph Walsh toured the flight decks of the *Babylon,* as was the tradition - the captain touring the ship one final time before a hopeless battle, taking in every detail because he'd never see it again. It was going to be a slaughter tomorrow when they arrived, and he'd already resigned himself to it. Even worse, Walsh couldn't shake the chilling feeling he got listening to Zachary's final, eerie message.  
*Might have been better if he died,* Walsh thought *It would be better for them if all four died.* he thought.

Walsh looked through the porthole, out to the streaking stars. He wondered what they were going to find when they reached the Queen's Graveyard. There would be an armada waiting for them, but it was either strike now, or lose everything. By the time the Queen got any kind of footing, they would be too decimated to fight back.  
The only hope now was this suicide run. Kill them before they killed you. Walsh winced. The last time he heard those words spoken was back at Wolf Den. It was the particularly brutal mentality of many of his Supertroopers. Ryker Killbane in particular had embraced it wholeheartedly. A few others, including Shane Gooseman, had come to question it.  
How ironic that the Supertroopers were to be feared and hunted because they brazenly stated and embraced the very philosophy that stood the last, best hope of saving the League.  
*I know this will be a defeat, but will it be a slaughter?* he thought sadly. BETA had rallied as many forces as they could, but the Queen had the defensive advantage. That cryptic message he'd recieved from Captain Foxx was definitely fueling his visions of BETA crumbling, and humans being marched into the Psychocrypt by the millions. He could still see the chilling look on Zachary's face every time he closed his eyes, and the voice was burned into his memory.  
*Goose and Doc are Slaverlords...Niko has been killed...I saw her die. The Queen is keeping me alive for reasons I do not know. She is planning to invade. She has eighteen battlecruisers at least...Do not attempt to rescue me...and tell my children that I love them.*

Zachary had sent the message under the code "Black Arrow" - Abandon all hope for rescue and consider the mission a complete failure.  
Just how much time was left for humanity, Walsh wondered. The *Babylon* alone had thousand men and women from every planet in the League joining him on this. There were ten battleships, a few dozen light cruisers, and assorted smaller vessels - over eighteen thousand troops. He would know their fates all too soon...  
It took him a few moments, but he realized that he was letting his fears get ahead of him.

*Stop this,* he told himself. *You don't know what's going to happen. For all you know, the message from Captain Foxx *could* have been faked.*

He took a deep breath. And heard the small whine of a repulsor unit come up behind him. "Joseph?" asked a synthesyzed voice.

He didn't turn around, knowing who it was.  
"Owen," Walsh asked his old friend. "Have we come so far, only to lose everything now?"

"That, I cannot say," Nagata replied. Walsh somewhat missed the faint German accent Nagata had before the "incedent" at Wolf Den that left the old scientist's body beyond repair. It would have been somewhat more comfortable to be talking to a human right now. Still, beggars couldn't be choosers, especially not now.  
Walsh shook his head and wondered aloud. "What the hell are we walking into?"

"You are doing the only thing you can," Nagata said. "I do not think that you are being foolish. Based on the information we have, a pre-emptive strike that does heavy damage to Crown Forces would buy the League some time."

"Some time," Walsh said. "Could mean two decades or two days."

"Two days for humanity are better than none."

"We have no intellegence of the area, of her defenses, or her strength. The advantage the League has on the Queen is in the speed of our hyperdrives. We can outrun her, but for how long? Plus the fact that the Queen knows whatever our Rangers know by now." Walsh sighed. "It would have been easier if they were dead, Owen."

"Yes," Nagata agreed. "It would have, but life's not easy, Joesph. It never was, nor will it ever be."

"There are some days, Owen, where I almost agree with that xenophobic, idiot senator. He always said that we'd get into a mess like this someday. He'll go the Psychocrypt with a smug grin on his face, I'll bet."

"Joseph," warned Nagata. "We can only hope for the best. The best case scenerio here is we can devestate her forces."

Walsh suddenly smiled recalling a conversation in his office, "Waldo once said something very true about Wheiner, and I have to agree with him."

"And what was that?" asked Nagata, the synthesyzer conveying a bit of the old German's humor.

"It was about MindNet. When I explained that the device could possibly control intellegent life, Waldo said something about it being fortunate that Senator Wheiner would be safe."

The colors inside Nagata's brain globe flashed a rainbow of colors for a moment. It was his way of laughing. Walsh chuckled, his mood lightened for the moment.  
Walsh sobered, his face bacame serious again, but not as grim looking as it had been before.  
Maybe it won't be a total loss," Walsh commented wryly. "I'm almost tempted to give Wheiner to the Queen just to get rid of him."

"I would pity the Queen," Nagata said dryly. "But, no doubt he would be even more of an annoyance as a Slaverlord. We must hope that it does not occur."

Walsh shook his head. "You're right, Owen. We have to keep hoping. Even if this battle doesn't go well."

"It is hope, perhaps more so than gunships and hyperdrives, which has kept humans alive so long in this universe."

Walsh turned around. "Thank you, old friend. I forget that sometimes."

"You are not facing this alone, Joseph."

Walsh said nothing, but nodded. No, he had over a thousand men and women facing this horror with him, and that was just on the *Babylon.*  
And somewhere, out in the unknown, were four Rangers - two hopefully dead, two as good as dead. Walsh could only pray for everyone under his command.  
And as soon as Nagata whizzed away, leaving him alone, pray he did.

[Part 11][1]

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	11. Chapter 11

CHrysalis - Part 11 Part Eleven Niko opened the door to the Vault of Change. It was right above the Forbidden Chamber, and took up most of the rest of the Tower. The bright green crystal glowed with a light of its own. Niko gasped, in awe of its splendor.  
D'Len hovered in the doorway. "I cannot go any further, Niko. You have a last chance to leave here, and forget Chrysalis."  
Niko turned. "No, Mistress. I have to do this. Not just for me, but for my friends, and for my worlds."  
"Very well," D'Len said. "Then may the Gods be with you." The door closed behind her, trapping Niko in the room with the bright green light.  
Niko approached the crystal. It almost seemed to call out to ther with a life of its own. She could almost sense something coming from the crystal...a strange calm.  
Pushing aside her doubts and hesitations, Niko threw her shoulders back and resolutely walked forward....  
*Emptiness...* she remembered the meditation state. *Think of Emptiness...*  
She tried to close her eyes, and push away her curiosity, awe, and fear. Slowly, she reached up, and touched the green crystal.  
PAIN.... Seering pain ripped through her, and she found that she couldn't move...Images, emotions flashed before her eyes. Sounds filled her ears. Emotions, sensations, touches and smells...everything flooded around her like a tornado. Niko felt like she was going to be torn to pieces by the flood of emotions....  
The shields D'Len erected were shattered, leaving her raw again, unshielded. The pain intensified.  
Her hands burned, and the awful images started to obtain cohesion into memory fragments. If she could have moved, she would have fallen to her knees in agony.  
She REMEMBERED! All the blocks were gone as her mind was ripped open once more, and exposed.  
The memories surged through her at once. Leaving her homeworld, the blue and white uniform she had worked to attain. The honor of being chosen...  
The attack on her mind and body by the Scarecrow. Desparately trying to communicate with an alien race. Risking her life to save those in danger. Watching her friends battle alongside her. Having to attack a brainwashed Doc, watching Zachary go half-mad with mind-pain, seeing Shane shot outside the Tortuna space port tower....  
More things inside her mind shattered as memories suppressed by the new shields came roaring to the surface. You could close your eyes to an awful sight, but how can you close your mind?   
She had to endure this...she HAD to.  
Niko shivered. Now she remembered what had shattered her shields.  
The Queen of the Crown....   
Hearing her evil laughter. The telepathic onslaught...the keen pain...The cracks and stings of the lazer whip, and the burning of poison. It all flooded back at once. Including the awful agony of the Queen's physical and psychic attack that had forced her into that intense three-way rapport...Feeling his anguish and grief, and the Queen's insane triumph, as the attack had burned its way through mind and body alike. Her mind being blown open. Feeling so much pain with no shields at all to protect her  
If she could move, she'd pull away. if she could open her mouth, she'd scream. Niko fought to breathe, she didn't know how much more she could take....  
The sensations washed over her like a tidal wave swamping a small raft. The fever that followed...the violent tearing away of the mind-link when the Crown guards threw Shane into the Psychocrypt chamber...Oh, Gods. She had all but died...If Doc hadn't been there, she would have perished in that cell.  
It surged through her, tearing her soul and mind to pieces, bringing all that she had suppressed roaring to the surface.  
Would she survive now?  
*Emptiness...* she thought, trying not to let the currents of power push her. She had to live down her fear.... her fear of losing control of her talents....  
The intensity burned open new paths in her mind. They ached, but Niko kept concentrating. She had to accept this change. If she pulled away now, the power inside the crystal would destroy her, but it would be so tempting to pull away, to be destroyed...  
*No,* some inner part of her challenged. *What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger.* Somehow that silly saying had more meaning now. She would *not* give in! She had to survive. She could not, would not just give in...  
The pain-storm was starting to abate. Her Thought-Sensing Gift was opened. Niko's instinct was to recoil back, and try to close it down. After all, it was this...this *curse* that put her here, that nearly destroyed her...that left her vulnerable to attack.  
In a moment of clarity, Niko realized that in order to survive this, she must deal with the new Ability...the crystal was now showing her memories reminding her that the Gift hadn't been so bad...The times where it saved her life, or saved another's. It was her ability that saved the life of her teammates when Shane cancelled the self-destruct. It was that ability she had used to locate the General, and try to save Zachary and Doc...  
The close rapport with Shane...Opening their minds and hearts to each other as they shared more intimate moments.  
The Gift was a two-edged sword. It was only a curse if she let it be a curse, if she allowed it to unbalance her. That same little inner voice once again prompted her that NOW she was thinking along the right lines...  
Niko took a deep breath in astonishment. She had grown. She had left Xanadau barely past girlhood. Oh, Gods...look at what she had done in those short years. She had gone so far, saved so many. It wasn't a curse, it was growth.  
The challenge facing her now was that she had to learn to quit "leaning" on her implant, and let her power come from within.  
*Girlhood ends...* she remembered, thinking of her reliance on the implant, and the exreme control from D'Len. *When you put away your crutches, and stand alone...*  
The glow from the crystal became less and less painful. Instead, it became warmer, and more welcoming, healing.... Niko's confidence was coming back.  
She could start to sense the world outside the chamber again. Her Gifts were restored...ALL of them! And she could remember what happened to her without the painful clarity she had when first awakening.  
*It's like I had a fever...and now, it's broken and faded away. I'm in control of myself now.*   
She could move again. Instead of a scream, Niko laughed with sheer joy. It was like being reborn. The possibility of total change. Niko felt strong now. She no longer hid from herself, or was relying on some sort of implant. What she was now was entirely of her own making.  
Niko gasped and fell to the floor of the Vault. She was blinded with a vision.  
She saw...no, she heard...no, she *felt* a presence, calling out. She could see it dimly...She was familiar with FarSight, but not THIS!  
Three Slaverlords emerged from the white light. Niko felt strangely calm - somehow sensed she had nothing to fear from them.  
Their leader reached up, and pulled down the white hood that obscured its face.  
The presence was another woman. A human woman with mouse-brown hair and kind blue eyes set in a heart-shaped face. Niko didn't recall knowing her, but somehow, she was familiar.  
*Please...Don't be afraid.*  
Niko was still frightened, but the woman had a gentle, almost motherly smile.  
*I... know you, don't I?* Niko asked, recognition tingling at the back of her mind.  
*In a way,* the woman answered. *I don't want to harm you. Please, I can't talk to you much longer. Zachary is dying.*  
Niko straightened, and concentrated on Emptiness. Her questioning thoughts would only get into the way right now.  
Niko was puzzled. *Zachary? He's alive?*  
*Yes, and he is relatively safe, physically.* the woman sent. *But inside, he's dying. The Queen is taking his life and his mind in a way more cruel than the Psychocrypt.*  
*What can I do?* Niko said, *And am I ready?*  
*I only know that you are his best hope, and the best hope for all your people.*  
*But, how? I'm just one person.* Niko was truly puzzled.  
*You are one person who has touched many. I think it's time you reminded some of that. You can do what I can't. My link to the Queen can only cause him more harm. As his friend, you have the strength.*  
Realization dawned on Niko.... she *knew* who she was talking to now! *You're Zachary's wife...You're Eliza!*  
Eliza nodded. *Yes. Will you help my husband?*  
This realization gave Niko new strength, maybe there WAS a way to defeat the Queen's Psychocrypt. If Eliza had held on to herself for two years, maybe there was a chance...  
Niko reached out and took the woman's hands. *I will. I promise. Tell me how.*  
*The way is up to you.* The woman said. *She can enslave us, but not control us.*   
*Thank you.* Niko told her. *I'll remember that. I...I think I'm ready now.*  
*Then, there is nothing more. Best of luck, Ranger,* Eliza said.  
She gestured to the other two Slaverlords, and replaced her hood. She left with the Slaverlord on the right. The Slaverlord on the left stayed behind, then removed its hood.  
Niko could hardly believe her eyes. *Shane?*  
*I led them here,* he answered. *Through the crystal.*  
*Shane. Oh, there's so much I want to say.*  
*It can wait until I'm rescued, babe,* he said with a wry smile. *The Queen will know when we've blocked her out.* Niko could swear that she could feel his hand lightly caressing her cheek...  
*I won't let you down.* she sent. *I love you.*   
*I know,* he answered. *Good-bye, Niko. *  
What more could she say? For now...  
The image faded away gradually, going from bright light to complete darkness...

Niko was pulled back to herself with a start. Opening her hand revealed that a small, green shard had broken off the crystal, and rested in her hand.  
When Niko was finally able to stand, she walked out of the Vault of Change. There were only a few preparations to make. The wounds (both inside and out) were still tender, and the preparations would give her the time to heal.

****

"And if there is no further business for the Circle..." Lannon said, waving his gavel.

There was silence as he picked up his gavel, ready to slam it down and conclude the last Council session for this Season.  
There was a heavy thunk, like the sound of a bolt being dislodged. The great wooden door creeked open, and Niko strode through.  
She was dressed in formal, yet simple, attire. A golden-yellow tunic belted across her waist, and matching leggings. A small green crystal around her neck completed the outfit.  
Several sets of eyes went wide as they saw the green shard. The word "Chrysalis" was murmured in surprised and hushed whispers.  
"Scholars, Mages," she said formally. "May I petition the Circle?"

Lannon nodded nervously. "Of course, Niko Dal'Ariel. What is your request?"

"I formally request to leave Xanadau."

Sjen's comeback was bitter. "You will not leave the planet, only to endanger us all."

Lannon recovered his bearings. "You chose to go outside our society. You must stay here. Don't blame us for preventing your suicide."

"I'm not blaming this council for anything, Lannon," Niko said acidly. "Except for being so thoughtless as to release Jesset Dal'Kest onto an unknowing galaxy."

Several shocked gasps and a flurry of mutterings filled the chamber. Lannon banged his gavel. "Quiet!"

He stared down Niko. "What the rest of the galaxy becomes is not our concern."

Niko walked up to Lannon, and stared him in the face. "You exiled Jesset - you allowed her to become the Queen of the Crowns, and you allow her to do this."

Niko pulled down the shoulder on her tunic, revealing an angry set of welts and burns. The Council gasped and pulled back reflectively.  
"Look at these!" she cried. "This was *child's play* to Jesset's torturer, just as the wounds in my mind were child's play to her. I'll have to live with some of these the rest of my life. I've seen Jesset's atrocities first-hand. I've seen worlds brutalized, and entire races of sentients she's hunted to the point of near-extinction."

"Think first of your own people," Sjen admonished.

Niko turned to her, eyes blazing. "I am human, and I am also a Galaxy Ranger. I took an oath to uphold the laws the League, and to protect ALL life."

"The outside world can tear itself apart with its own self-serving wars. We were formed as a Sanctuary for the innocent."

"I'm afraid," said Niko, "that ignorance is not innocence. I'm not the innocent girl who left Xanadau six years ago. I've lived through things many of you only can read about. I have experience to supplant my intellect, and my experience tells me that Jesset poses a danger to all of the galaxy, Xanadau included."

"We cannot let outsiders know of our existance," Lannon argued, obviously flustered. 

"Outsiders already know." Niko pressed her case further. "An outsider, my captain and friend Zachary, aided us in our fight against the MegaMind. If I recall, Lannon, you were the one who held him in the air. If it weren't for his help, this council and world wouldn't be standing!"

Several nervous glances flashed around the Council, as they realized the truth in Niko's words.   
Her voice dropped. "Jesset has abused him almost constantly for two years. She's invaded his mind on many occasions, and holds the soul of his life-mate hostage. He's languishing in the her prison as we speak. Even in exile, and with much of her power gone, she still laughs in the face of our world's mission and laws."

"We cannot risk our safety," Sjen said, offering the last voice of opposition..

"If the Queen really wanted to, she would find Xanadu, cloaked or not. I have no intention of staying, even though I realize BETA will be defeated without help," Niko said.

"While I love my world, I can't sit here in comfort and watch my people be destroyed."

The door on the far wall opened, and D'Len almost glided into the room. She was dressed formally. Walking over to Niko's side, she looked up at the council.

"I side with Adept Niko," D'Len proclaimed.

Ariel stood, and walked over to Niko's side as well. "As do I."

"Xanadau was formed for a purpose," D'Len procalimed. "As an eye on the universe, and a place to shelter the wounded. In our zeal to cover our error we have lost sight of that purpose."

D'Len's eyes went to Niko, but she was not harsh, or inscrutable. Her ancient eyes were sympathetic. Niko didn't quite know how to read this change in D'Len, but she was honored by it.

"Adept Niko showed great courage leaving our world so young, and risking so much in the service of others. Many of us have decided to shelter ourselves from the concequences of our actions by not venturing from Paradise. We have much to learn from this young set of eyes."

The elder's eyes turned to Ariel. "Mistress Ariel, you have trained her well."

Ariel nodded respectfully.

"And she is correct. If nothing, this Circle owes a debt to Zachary the Outsider. If Adept Niko wishes to fight among her people, then I see no reason to stop her."

"And," said Niko. "I ask others to come with me. My people aren't prepared for what Jesset's sorcery will throw at them. Maybe it's time for some sorcery of our own."

Lannon rose from his seat. "I will go."

"As will I," said Master Adept Jadus.

"I'll go as well," Scholar-Adept Lini volunteered.

At the end of the council session, thirteen members of the Circle of Thought had agreed to accompany Niko. In less than an hour, they were making a Magic Gate to teleport them to Commander Walsh.

"How many hours until Crown space, Ensign?"  
"Five hours, thirteen minutes," the young Kiwi at the helm answered.  
Five hours...not very much time left...  
*God, whichever the way the battle goes, let us have our best chance.*

"What the?!" the human communications officer said. He checked the panel again, then let out a whoop. "Commander!"  
"What?" Walsh said, whipping around in his seat.

"The cavalry just arrived. I'm picking up a Traash fleet thirty clicks and closing. They're sending out an offer of assistance."  
"But we didn't contact the Traash," said Walsh, stunned. "Who could have --?"

There was a crackling of lightning on the bridge, and something like a gate opened before him. Walsh readied his wand and was about to fire when something...no *someone* stepped through the portal. He gasped and binked in utter shock.

One of his Rangers was alive, well, and came with re-enforcements.  
"Niko? But Zach told me..."  
"Commander, we don't have much time. We have a plan against the Queen of the Crown, but it involves getting all the ship captains here for a briefing."

[Part 12][1]

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	12. Chapter 12

Chrysalis - Part 12 Part Twelve The briefing room was crowded with a dozen captains and commanders, all eagerly sizing up the strangely-dressed strangers.  
Niko told them everything she knew, and explained that indeed, she was the one who had summoned the Traash fleet.  
"The Queen does plan on invading, and she already has most of her remaining fleet stationed near her core worlds. She was planning for us to get worn down by the border skirmishes, then invade. Either that, or let some small-scale assault fleets just come in and be slaughtered by the forces on the inner rim."

"War by attrition," Captiain Hiro, a stocky Japanese man, noted. "Just like you expected, Commander."

"Who are the strangers?" asked Nash Blake, commander of the *Laredo.*

"They're Members of the Circle of Thought," said Niko. "They're our wild card."

"But there's only a dozen of you," Captain Hiro noted. "How are a dozen people supposed to make a difference?"

"We don't know what will defeat the Queen," Captain Jones of the *Liberation* grumbled.

"Captain Foxx provided the answer to that," said Walsh. "Said something about her having to feed on her own Slaverlords for strength."

Jadus looked up. "That means that she's weak. When our world fought her, she used up the life-energy of her slaves as a last resort."

"She's starving to death, then?" Lini asked.

"Sounds like it," Captain Raleigh, whose team was part of the *Babylon's* crew, commented wryly.

"So, you know about the Queen?" Walsh asked. "Any more you care to tell us?"

Lannon nodded and came forward. "Yes, but our information is out of date. We'll need to see what your information on her is. We know some things you don't about her, and the weaknesses of her people."

Niko stood and said, "We also have another element in our favor." She nodded to Lannon.

Niko noticed Lannon smiling and closing his eyes. The whole ship shimmered and the lights dimmed for a moment.  
He then opened his eyes, and made a gesture. The com signal went off.   
"Sir," said an ensign. "Transmission from the Argo."

The face of Commander Saigt, Hiro's Andorian first officer, popped up on the screen. "Captain, what happened? The Babylon vanished from everyone's sensors for a moment. Is everything all right down there?"

Hiro's eyes, and the eyes of all the captains, registered surprise. Hiro informed his first officer. "It's all right. I'll brief you on it when I come back aboard."

The transmission cut. Hiro turned to Niko. "Ranger Niko, what's your plan?"

****

After the briefing was over, Niko went to some small quarters on the Babylon, using the last few hours to meditate on Emptiness.  
She was fitted with a new badge, and her implant was given a small recharge. The facilities aboard the ship were designed to charge Series Three implants and lower. Still, it was helpful to recieve an added boost. Her implant was as much a source of energy as anything else, though Niko now got the feeling that she wouldn't be relying on that energy too heavily in the future. This incedent taught her a lesson about relying on the outside.  
The doorchime rang, and Niko rose to answer it. Opening it revealed Vallian, an old Wakkist. Wakkist were tall, lupine aliens. Their planet was past both Crown and BETA's mapped space. Niko had estimated that it would be almost another twenty years before BETA encountered the Wakkist homeworld.  
Vallian was a Master Adept, like Ariel. His long friendship with Ariel was what convinced him to come along.  
Niko rose. "Vallian, old friend. What's the matter? Did you try to ForeSee what would happen?"

Vallian smiled. "I can't ever see into the future clearly, Niko. If I could, I'd be too terrified to do much. Besides, fate is not the cut of a blade, but like cracks in ice. Many results can come from the same set of images."

"Still," said Niko. "What brings you here?"

"Something I sensed. I only got a feeling, one too distinct to ignore."

"What is it?"

The lupine creature bowed his head for a moment, the looked up. "Adept, I fear for you. Do not go off to battle Jesset, no matter how you feel for your friends."

Niko was stunned. "Why?"

"If you fight Jesset now, you will lose the battle. I only saw that much. Jesset is powerful, as are you. But it's far from equal, and I still sense the possibility of treachery on her part."

"I don't expect the Queen to fight honestly. I'm prepared for it," she said. "And if I die, I'll only be one of hundreds, possibly thousands."

"Are you eager to die, Adept?"

"No more than you are," she said softly. "But I've known for a long time that I wouldn't die in my sleep. I'll remember your words, and if I don't survive this...tell Ariel that I love her." 

"She already knows," Vallian said. "But if her heart-daughter doesn't survive, I'll tell her."

Niko looked up. "Thank you. Now, get ready. We don't have much..."

The vibration of the deckplates shifted under their feet as the *Babylon* dropped out of hyperspace. The intercom confirmed what they already knew.  
"Battlestations! Crown space in twenty minutes!"

Niko stood, and rushed past Vallian.

"I'm sorry," she said. "But my place is elsewhere."

"Niko!" Vallian cried after her. "Niko, come back!"

But the young human was already far from sight, dashing into the nearest lift, and all but pushing her way past technicians and soldiers to get there.  
The lift took her down to the flight deck where Ranger One was waiting. She strapped in the pilot's seat, and activated the pre-flight warm up.  
"Ready, GV?" she asked.

The blue and green eye bobbed up and down. ""As ready as I'll ever be."

"Then, launch."

The Crown patrol ships, led by the Crown Destroyer *Drakkuul* skirted the edge of the asteroid belt. Captain Orthallan had ridden out mainly as a show of force.  
"I'm detecting a Ranger battlecruiser," the helmsman reported.

"How many?"

"Only one. I can't get a positive ID on it, though."

"It's just one vessel," said Orthallan dismissively. "Time to show our little friend not to attempt a challenge of the belt."

No sooner had Orthallan and his small fleet had emerged from the asteroid belt, had space itself seemed to ripple and shimmer like a Slaverlord.  
The Crown fleet soon came face-to-face with the full might of BETA's forces. Ships now seemed to outnumber the asteroids.   
A fleet of ships...an incredibly mighty fleet of ships. With all the Crown forces dispersed along the border, the heart of the Empire was unprepared for an invasion of THIS scale! Gasps of astonishment filled the bridge. Orthallan could have sworn that even the Slaverlords and robots were stunned.  
"Call the Palace!" Orthallan barked. "Tell them to send out the armada."

The incoming hail came over audio. "Captain, you have sounded an alert. What is the matter of the emergency?"

"Highness," a Crown Guard said, "We're picking up a fleet of ships headed this way - all of them from BETA mountain."

The League ships immediately went for the attack, battlecruisers and interceptors launching and heading for the larger Crown Destroyers like a swarm of insects.   
The Crown favored large, powerful vessels, while the League favored smaller, weaker, but more maneuverable craft. The large shots of the big vessels could easily take out several small ships, but the small ships could dodge and hit critical points on the larger ones.  
Size versus speed. Power versus maneuverability.   
And only the Gods knew who would claim victory.  
[Part 13][1]

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   [1]: chrys13.html
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	13. The end chapter

Chrysalis - Part 13 Chapter Thirteen The guards came into the tower cell, armed with stun rifles. They opened the door and saw Zachary sitting at the desk.  
"The Queen wants to see you," the first one droned.  
He didn't move, speak, or so much as twitch.  
"Think he's alive?" asked the other one.   
They walked over to him. Zachary didn't even seem to notice their presence, staring "He's breathing."

The guards pulled him up from the seat. He gave no resistance. It was almost like handling an atomoton. With a minimum of prodding, they led him out the door and into the hallway. 

"Captain," said the Queen. "Come and watch."

A little prodding sent Zachary walking over to her side.  
"What's the matter, Captain?" the Queen said. "Don't you like watching history?"

On the monitor in fromt of them, the Queen saw her forces going out to meet the BETA fleet.

"Your fleet is no match for mine. They are outnumbered three to one. From the safety of my palace, you will see the end of your insignifigant League of Planets, and the beginning of your species' extinction."

"No..." Zachary whispered.

"I wouldn't hurt you if you didn't try to stop me," she said, anger seeping into her voice. "Submit to me, and I promise you'll be treated well."

Zachary seemed to snap out of it for a moment, moving his hand to lean on the Queen's throne.

"As you can see, Captain, it is too late to resist. Kneel to me, and I will spare you. Beg for mercy and I may spare your children the Psychocrypt."

Zachary's hand shifted, pressing a control on the Queen's throne. Projected in the air before her, in miniture, was a 3-dimentional projection of the injured Niko.

"I'm sorry, Zach. I tried..."

The Queen's eyes grew wide as she was unable to do anything out of pure shock. The recording played its endless loop. The wounds appeared, the image screamed, then vanished, only to repeat its death endlessly.

"Another dream..." Zachary droned. "Another illusion."

Recovering her will, the Queen tried to force Zachary away, but the recording still played, despite removing his hand from the controls.

"I'm sorry, Zach...I tried...I'm sorry, Zach...I tried..."

"I know what you want," Zachary said dully. "You want me to see my friends die. You wanted to make me tell everyone that I can't fight you...But I fought you..."

The Queen backed away as the scene played in miniature. "Niko" said her final words, then the wounds appeared, then the holographic tape played another lap.

"I know why you aren't going to let me die," Zachary said. "I know why you don't want to put me in the Psychocrypt..." He started to laugh, but it wasn't sane laughter.

The Queen lept out of her throne and backed away, then grew harsh and angry. "You've foiled my plans once too often, Ranger Foxx! The Crypt is too good for you."

She concentrated, and started to summon an energy bolt at her fingers. She was about to raise her hand against Zachary when the alert signals in her palace went off.

"Highness," cried the voice of Captain Jaol, commander of the Destroyer *Fury,* "BETA's fleet has sliced through our first line of defense."

Temporarily forgetting her rage at Zachary, the Queen hit the communications panel. "Then send out all we have! Call reinforcements in from neighboring sectors."

"We already have!" yelled Jaol.

The League was holding their own, but the fighting was fierce.

"Give the Queen everything we've got!

"We're trying. Deflector shields on Crown Destroyer down to seventy percent.

A jolt slammed into the large ship.

"Shields down to fifty percent!"

Walsh had a sickening feeling. Let's hope the Traash fleet made good on its word...

Three Fighters were on the tail of Ranger One as Niko swerved the ship to avoid yet another asteroid.

They fired, and Niko fell forward in the chair as GV's screen went blank.

"GV?" she asked, trying to get the AI back on line. "Come on, GV."

The eyeball icon pulled itelf back. "I am...not damaged. Aft shields have taken a lot of hits.

"They might take a few more. Hold on!"

She rocked in her seat as the ship rocked dangerously to avoid hitting asteroids. Two of them were drifting together right in front of her.

The Crown fighters were still on her tail. She couldn't take much more of this.

Hunkering down in her seat, she made a few jerky turns with the stick. This had better be right, or she'd be nothing but space debris.

GV closed its eyeball, afraid to look.

The larger battlecruiser swerved around the asteroid, and narrowly missed the other by a bare few meters, making a tight "S" pattern through the belt. It was like driving a tight mountain road at speeds that would make a professional racecar driver blanch.

The fighters attempted to puresue her, but the vibration left by Ranger One's engines disrupted them at such a close range. The fighters spun it out of control, smashing head-on into the asteroids behind her.

Niko breathed a sigh of relief, but continued her breakneck course through the asteroid belt. Finally, she was in the provervial eye of the storm, right next to the Queen's Asteroid Palace.

"Great piloting, Ranger Niko." GV said.

Niko managed a laugh. "I think even Shane would be impressed." 

"I would not want to guess," the AI unit responded. "But I am most glad to be in one piece."

"That makes two of us," she said. "Any more company to worry about?"

"No more pursuit vessels," reported GV. It would appear that they have other targets."

She nodded. "Then, GV, find the nearest airlock, and prepare to dock. I'm making a rescue attempt."

As she loaded her blaster, however, she got a keen sense of dread. She could sense the Queen on the station, and she remembered Vallian's words.

*If you confront Jesset now, you will lose the battle.*

Niko closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She checked once more to make sure she had Shane's crystal with her.

She took careful note of his face one more time before slipping it back into her belt pouch.

*I hope you'll understand,* she thought.

Checking her pistol one more time, Niko strode through the airlock, and into her fate.

"Estimated Crown Strength?" asked Nagata.

"The Queen still has fifty Fighters, Three Destroyers, and Two Slaver transports."

"BETA Fleet?" asked Walsh.

"We've lost the *Argo,* the *Liberation,* and the *Courageous,*" reported the Kiwi at the sensor grid. "Thirty interceptors destroyed. The *Scorpion* has taken very little damage, and is isolating the last wave of fighters."

"Keep it up," Walsh ordered.

A hit jostled the Babylon, sending Vallian sprawling against the wall. A technician ran up to him.

"He's dead!"

Walsh turned. Indeed, the psychic was dead.

Orthallan was cheering. "Hit them. Kill them!"

The Crown giunners were giving everything. Already, several of those BETA ships were going up in smoke. Perhaps this day, they would claim victory. 

Oh, yes. Millions of Slaverlords. all the Glory of the Empire. Those rebellious Andorians and muddle-minded Kiwi would learn their lesson soon enough.  
"Sir," said the Dathian pilot at the helm. "I'm reading another fleet of ships."

"What?" said Orthallan. "What Configuaration?"

"Traash, sir. I can't believe those League bastards - they have those insects helping them!"

"What are the Traash doing?"

"They are wiping out any reinforcements coming into the sector. All we have is all we'll get!"

Niko dashed down the corridors, blaster ready. She turned left, then right, then left again.  
Only to run into a dead end.  
Turning, she saw three Slaverlords. Niko raised the blaster and picked off two, the crystals shattering. The robes fell uselessly to the floor.  
The third...  
An awful feeling of coldness hit her before the Slaverlord changed. Niko found herself staring at a ghostly version of Doc.  
Reflectively, she lowered her blaster. She had to find some way...  
The construct lunged for her, grabbing her arm. It felt every bit as solid as if it had been a person, and not just life-energy holding her.  
She wrenched out of his grip, and kicked twice, dodging another kick sent in her direction.   
"No, way, Doc. We spar together in the gym, remember?" 

She dodged again, and whirled right into his grip, like some sort of strange dance. Reaching up, she grabbed the crystal, and ripped it from the robe.  
The slaverlord collapsed in a heap of robes. Niko took the three robes, and ducked into a ventelation duct.   
Niko climbed through the twisted maze, two lives literally jangling in her belt pouch.  
A level above, and further into the castle, it would appear to anyone watching that a Slaverlord had kicked out the ventelation grating and slid out.  
Only this slaverlord had boots on underneath her robe, and a shock of red hair sliding into the face mask.  
Niko replaced the grating, and draped the two other robes over her arm.  
*Funny. No guards here...*

A large, wooden door stood in front of her. Niko walked to the door, and opened it.   
It was a lavish study, almost a replica of the one she'd seen in the Forbidden Chambers of the Tower. It was the same magic.  
This was probably the private study of Queen Jesset, Student of Kest, Holder of the Crowns of Xanadau.  
Niko stole into the study. She examined the various books and things with distaste. The column in the center appearred to be some sort of safe. The forcefield was turned off, and the safe was empty. Niko touched it and opened her mind.  
She saw a mental image, and shuddered. This was where the Queen usually kept Eliza's crystal.  
She hunted around, and found a button near the column. She pressed it, and the far wall began to slide open.  
Two crystal coffins. Niko stumbled back for a moment, and reflectively checked her belt pouch.  
She wrinkled her nose. The stasis period did nothing for their injuries. Shane still had that awful lump in his arm, and Doc was battered and bruised all over.

Niko reached into her pouch and pulled out Shane's crystal. She opened the crystal coffin and hesitantly joined Shane's life-force crystal to the half resting at the base of his neck.

There was a flash of light, as blueish light circled his body for a few moments. Shane opened his eyes, then gasped, and toppled from the coffin. Niko caught him, and eased him to the floor.

He was as limp as a rag doll, and his eyes were unfocused.

"Lie here and wait for you strength to return. It will take some time."

"Who...are you?" he asked weakly.

Niko pulled down the hood on the white robe. "Shane, it's me."

He reached up with an unsteady hand, caressing her cheek. Niko took his hand in hers. She saw tears starting to well up in his green eyes.

"Niko..."

"Shhh...you rest here."

Shane pulled himself up to a sitting position, and just looked at her for the longest time.

"Niko, I...You know I love you."

"Yes, I know."

Temporarily forgetting where they were, they leaned into each other. Niko almost gasped more from what her Thought-Sense was telling her than from the kiss itself. His barriers were gone completely, as were hers. When the Queen had broken the barriers, their link brought awful, soul-destroying pain. Now, he was practically broadcasting into her mind and heart all his love for her, all the relief that she was alive, and the gratitude of being rescued. 

They broke off the kiss after what had seemed an eternity, but was only a half-minute.

"Wow," Shane said. "I'm awake now."

He and Niko chuckled a moment. She grinned, and pulled Doc's crystal from her belt pouch. "Good. Now to wake up Doc."

"Hopefully not the same way," Shane joked, starting to stand shakily, leaning on the wall for support.

Niko laughed, and opened the crystal coffin. "No chance, love."

She rejoined the crystals. In a few moments, Doc groaned, and shook his head. "Damn, Walter, find yourself a new line of work..."

"Good morning, Doc," Shane said.

"Huh?" Doc opened his eyes, squinting in the dim room. His face, still contorted with pain due to the headache, nevertheless brightened when he saw his friends.

"Niko...and Gooseman! How wonderful it is to see you both in the flesh again."

They helped him out of the coffin, and supported him so that his feet didn't collapse out from under him.

"Better in the flesh than in the crystal," Niko said. "Now, it will be a few minutes before you can stand. In the meantime, we have to find Zachary."

Doc thought a moment. "Wait a minute. I know where he is."

The other two looked at him in disbelief. "How would you know?" asked Shane.

"Because the Queen had me...or half of me in the room with him ten minutes ago."

Niko was pulling a few other things from her robes - a pair of blasters, a CDU, and two badges.  
"I raided the detention level," Niko said. "You were right, Doc. Before I shot the technician, he was still cursing about your encryption."

Doc and Shane took the blasters and badges. Doc pressed a few buttons on the CDU.  
"Not much in the badges. One hit, maybe two. Better save it for a complete emergency."

Niko crouched on the floor, and pulled the two robes off her sleeve. "Okay. We need to form a plan. In the meantime, gear up and put these on."

The Queen shot a glance over to Zachary. The Ranger captain was cowed, defeated. Nothing of his pride remained. She smiled, and took Eliza's crystal from her pocket.  
"As you can see, Captain," the Queen said. "I shall be victorious."

No answer. Oh, he must be devestated. Wonderful. Just as she wanted. She wanted that self-satisfied Ranger Captain to watch it all with his own eyes.  
"I never had any intention of turning you into a Slaverlord, Captain," she said. "You are much more use to me as a symbol - a symbol that humanity cannot withstand my power."

She ran her fingers over the crystal. Eliza was the first...and she wouldn't be the last.  
She looked down at the cluster of three Slaverlords near the Psychocrypt controls. She smiled and started to try and shift her consciousness to them.  
Only to hit a shield...a *gold-colored* shield.

"What?!"

One of them reached up for its helmet, and pushed it away. The Queen's eyes widened in shock, as a dark-skinned human face stared back at her. "April Fool."

She bolted upright. "How dare you!"

The second knocked away its hood and pulled a blaster from the folds of his robe. The third dropped the robe altogether and stepped out into the middle of the floor. The Queen was too stunned to issue orders until one of the Guards raised his blaster. She held up her hand. "Hold your fire."

Niko was dressed in a gold-colored tunic and leggings. A belt at her waist was fastened by her Ranger badge. A large crystal hung from her neck. The Queen recognized it - it was the formal attire of a Circle of Thought Adept. It was her bearing that was more chilling. She captured and tormented a girl, but it was a woman dressed in gold.  
*But Niko was a girl - a Novice. I shattered her shields...I destroyed her...she wouldn't have survived, even if she did escape. The psychic burns...*

Niko looked up and shouted, "Queen Jesset!"

The Queen turned around, eyes registering fear.  
"Jesset Dal'Kest," Niko said formally, striding forward. "I am Niko Dal'Ariel, Adept of the Circle."

Doc leaned over to Shane. "Goose, what the hell is going on?"  
Shane whispered, "I don't know, Doc, but I get the feeling that this is something we shouldn't interfere with."

The Queen straightened, and Niko stepped forward. "As an Adept, I call my right to challenge you. You have disgraced the Circle, and used your Gifts to directly violate our most cherished law."

The Queen glared down at Niko. "Don't you dare, little girl! The Circle didn't risk trying to destroy me." She laughed, but her nervousness was starting to show. She stumbled a little as she pulled strength from another Slaverlord, turning it to ash. "I've taken care of Circle members more powerful than you, little Niko."

Niko wasn't intimidated. "Will you accept the duel?"

The Queen smiled. "I accept."

The Queen raised her hands above her head, and Niko slapped her badge - she'd need every source she could tap at this stage. Gold mage-light surrounded Niko, and an omnious red-purple mist shrouded the Queen. Shane and Doc staggered back. Zachary only stood by the Queen in silence, eyes still vacant.

On the bridge of the *Babylon,* things were looking bad. Consoles belched smoke and spit sparks. Controles ionized, and the attacks kept coming.  
"We've lost another Interceptor!" shouted the Kiwi technician before her console detonated. She was dead before she hit the deck.  
"Helm, what are the enemy forces?" asked Walsh, addressing a young Andorian at the navigation panel.  
"We're down to three battlecruisers. The *Rhiannon's* taken heavy damage, the *Shardad's* shields are gone, the *Laredo's* still holding her own, and we've got a hull breech on deck Twenty."  
"Interceptors and transports?"  
"The sensors are malfunctioning, I can't get a good reading on them, or on the Crown forces!"  
Walsh's face hardened. A brash plan of action came to his mind. No time for doubt now.  
"Helm, set a course. Go right into the asteroid belt."

"Sir?"

"Do it. We'll last longer against the asteroids than we will against the brunt of the fleet. If they follow us in, we should be able to take a few of them with us." 

"I do not plan to join them, sir." the helmsman answered.

The *Babylon* broke off and went straight for the asteroids. Piloting a large battlecruiser throught an asteroid frield, and only taking a few hits was nothing short of a small miracle. Crown fighters and a few mid-sized crafts tried to enter the belt, but hit asteroids moved in the wake of the large ship's movement.

There was a cheer through the bridge of the Babylon.  
"No pursuit, sir!" yelled the helmsman. "And no evidence of more launches from the base."

Aboard the *Drakkuul,* Orthallan was trying to put out the fires cropping up on his consoles.

"Engines minimum. Fire suppression out. Life support failing...weapons systems..." the Crown robot was calmly reporting their doom, much to the Dathian's dismay.

"What of the League fleet?"

"We are now outnumbered," the guard droned. "And the Traash are picking off all our fighters."

"Damn!" yelled Orthallan, leaping out of his seat and grabbing a fire extinguisher and trying to put out the sudden fire that erupted on the control panel near his seat.

"Communications?!"

"We can send a message."

"Hail the Queen! Tell her to flee! Tell her to -"

His orders were cut off when a the flaming wreckage of an interceptor spun out of control and slammed full on into the engine of the Destroyer. A fireball swept over the ship in seconds, incinerating everything from ship to stern as the ship silently detonated in space. 

Niko let off with a full surge of power, and the Queen strained, but pushed away Niko's gold energy beam with a huge burst of purple fire.  
Niko strained against it. Sweat beaded on her brow. The crackle of energy, and the smell of ionized air filled the chamber. Niko grunted as she pulled all the energy at her implants' disposal to push against the beam.  
Finally, she cried out as she fell back onto the stairs near the Psychocrypt.  
"NIKO!" Shane yelled.

"It is too bad, Niko *Dal'Ariel*, that you did not become Niko Dal'Jesset. Now, you leave me no choice..."The Queen cackled. "It's too late. The League will fall. You and your friends will pay for your folly. Your lack of vision has proven to be your downfall." The Queen turned to Zachary and smiled wide. "And all as my enemy witnesses it helplessly..." she laughed loudly.

She raised her hands over her head and started to summon another blast. Another Slaverlord turned to ash beside her. The Queen lashed out, and a jolt of purely evil energy coursed through Niko. This was so much worse than torture, worse then the healing. Pain just lit every part of her on fire. She cried out in agony.  
In a moment of clarity, Niko looked up at Zachary, standing helplessly by, unable to do anything but helplessly watch.   
*Oh, Gods...Zachary, I've failed you.*

"I'm sorry, Zach!" Niko shouted, her voice torn with agony. "I tried..."

Niko's words lanced through the shroud of Zachary's conscious mind. Rage upon rage...bottled and controlled for so long. He turned to see the Queen next to him, almost in arms' length. She was going to kill Niko again. She was going to twist his memories again. She was going to turn Eliza into a Slaverlord again...and she would do this over and over again...it wouldn't stop.  
It wouldn't stop.  
It wouldn't stop.  
"Not again..." he said.  
The Queen laughed as she prepared to throw another bolt at Niko. This bolt, much more powerful than the last, would kill her.   
Zachary rushed the Queen, screaming. "*Not again!!*"

He knocked her to the floor and pinned her, still yelling. " You won't kill her again. YOU WON'T! **YOU WON'T!!**" 

The Queen looked into Zachary's eyes, and reeled in shock. There was no sanity in those eyes, only a whirlwind of pain and insane rage. She had meant to break him - but what she had really done was drive the Ranger captain mad.  
The Queen tried to push into Zachary's mind, tried to find a memory, a thought...SOMETHING other then the insane, blind rage and chaos of his conscious mind. She pushed as hard as she could, but there was nothing there to use, only his mind pushing against her, only the insanity. The Queen howled in fear as she was forced from her victim's mind.  
As the Queen drew on more life force to stay alive, the Slaverlords started to howl and turn to ash as she drew their life force one by one.  
Zachary grabbed the Queen and pulled her down the stairs to the Psychocrypt. The Queen struggled, but Zachary was a strong man. His anger and his bionic implants give him too much strength.  
"I won't let you..." he said, laughing. "You aren't going to make me have that bad dream again." Zachary's voice was a eerie singsong. "This is my mind, and I KNOW this is a dream."

Shane and Doc ran up and pulled Niko to a relatively safe position behind a fallen stone column. A row of guards dashed in front of them, blocking their exit, but not their view.

Zachary's face was blank as he carried the Queen in front of him, using her as a shield. With the Slaverlords gone, the guards turned to each other, scattered and panicked.   
"Lower your weapons!" shouted the Crown Guard Captain. "We can't risk shooting the Queen!"

Niko gasped. "Oh, Gods...he's insane."

"Captain!" Doc shouted, as he tried to stand up suddenly from a crouch. The headache was blinding, and he still didn't feel up to speed, but adrenaline was making for a quick fix. As he tried to step forward, Shane stopped him.

"I don't think he can hear you," Shane grumbled. "Even if we could reach him, none of us are strong enough to stop him now."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" The Queen demanded as Zachary dragged her up the set of stairs.

"Ending this nightmare." Zachary said tonelessly as he opened the door to the Psychocrypt chamber. "I won't let you use me anymore."

The door slid open. Zachary pushed himself and the Queen inside, sealing the door behind him.

"Oh, my God..." said Doc.

Shane gasped. "He's killing himself."

"ZACHARY!" Niko cried out, trying to get to her feet.

"What does he think he's doing?" Doc said.

Niko swallowed, and answered hoarsely. "He feels it's his only way to stop her."

"FIRE!" a Crown Guard yelled.

"BELAY!" the Captain answered.

"Our Queen will be killed by that madman," another guard shouted.

"We'll ALL be killed, our Queen included, if there's an energy surge in the chamber. Destroy that, and this palace will self-destruct."

The Queen looked up, into Zachary's eyes. There was nothing. A total void. She was really afraid for the first time in however long she could remember...

She backed away. "Captain Foxx, you aren't well."

"And you're the reason for it."

"I can give you much, you know," she said. "Power...a planet to rule...I can even give you your mate's crystal..." She pulled out the crystal. "I haven't drained her."

"You've taken my wife, raped my mind..." Zachary said, walking up and taking the crystal from her hand, placing it absently in his belt pouch. His voice was a creepy monotone. "I'm not going to wake up to more of your nightmares. Not again. Never again."

The Queen was quaking now. Zachary almost seemed lucid as he said it.

The team looked on in horror, wishing they could stop their captain. Doc's CDU set off an alarm. 

"Holy Shit!" Doc yelled as he saw the scanner.

"What?" asked Shane.

"I don't know how he's doing this, but I'm reading an implant ignition!"

"Implant?" Niko's eyes were the size of plates.

Sure enough...They looked in on the crypt and saw a glow...and it was moving...

"The Thunderbolt," Shane whispered. "Oh, shit. He really IS crazy."

"Zachary..." Niko said, and this time it was no more than a whisper.

"Captain! Zach, don't do it!" Shane shouted out, hoping that somehow Zachary would hear him.

The Queen was backed up against the far wall, watching on helplessly as Zachary flexed his arm, priming the Thunderbolt for action.

"Captain Foxx..." The Queen was begging now. "Don't do this. You'll murder yourself."

"If it will end the nightmare, then I don't care. I'm already dead," Zachary continued in the same toneless voice. His eyes blazed again with a sudden, insane fury. "This is for the two years of my life you've stolen from me, you BITCH!!!"

He thrust out his arm and it shattered the wall of the Psychocrypt.

The three Rangers gasped. They were sure they were witnessing their captain's suicide and there was nothing they could do to stop him now...

The Thunderbolt burst the side of the Psychocrypt walls. The controls on the far wall exploded, and the red beam filled the chamber. The whole room was enveloped in an eerie red glow.

The glow became so bright that the three team members were forced to shield their eyes. The Crown Guards staggered back, shielding their eyes from the bright red light, and their ears from the agonized death-howls of their monarch. They were at a loss without her to command them.

Glass shattered, Slaverlords collapsed. The whole asteroid tilted and rocked like some sort of demented carnival ride.

The Rangers huddled together, equally stunned. Shane had his arms wrapped around Niko, each supporting the other, trying to comfort the other. Doc just stood, jaw flopped open.

"Captain..." Doc said in a stunned, despairing voice.

Finally, the Queen's screams, and the red light subsided. The Rangers were able to look at the chamber...  
"See anything?" Doc asked.

After the light faded out entirely, the Rangers walked up to the chamber, breaths held. All that was left of the Queen was what appeared to be a pile of smoking, putrid-smelling ash.  
Zachary was lying on the floor outside the chamber. His clothes were smoking and scorched down to the skin in places. Several nasty burns showed through the holes in his clothing.  
Niko bent over him. "He's alive." Feeling his belt pouch, she pulled out the crystal, then quickly replaced it. "And he has Eliza!"

Doc punched in the information into his CDU. His eyes widened. "Then let's get him out of here...Massive energy surge. The whole place is about to explode!"

The Crown troops rallied for one last counteroffensive, but their Slaverlords were not present to command them, so they were divided and attacking more out of desperation than anything.  
"We have to get out of here first," Shane said, as he found a pair of blaster pistols and started shooting. "Doc, I could use some back-up here!" 

"Ten minutes until melt down!" Doc yelled, then rushed off to help Shane, picking up another blaster and covering for Shane.

"Let's get outta here!" Shane called out. Using the last bit of charge still in his badge to augment his strength, he knelt down and swung Zachary up over his shoulder and headed out after the others. Niko staggered to her feet and followed, taking out soldiers with her blaster.  
The four managed to get right out the door as Doc sealed it. A second later, the door fell inches behind their heels as the Crypt Chamber blew up behind them, taking out the rest of the Crown guards. The shockwave knocked the team off their feet. Niko struggled to get to her feet. Even with the adrenaline boost, she was still pretty shaky. Doc and Shane weren't faring well, either, especially with the added weight of carrying Zachary.   
Red lights, alarm klaxons, and evacuation warnings echoed through the asteroid.  
"Three minutes until this place is space debris! We'll barely have enough time to get out of range." Adding, Doc grumbled, "I KNEW I should have paid my life insurance."

Shane just smiled grimly. "Doc, we're not dead yet."

They raced down the tunnel, to the waiting Ranger One. They could hear GV's worried voice. "Hurry!"

"What the hell do you think we're doing, GV? Taking a stroll in the park?" Doc huffed out, as they ran for the ship.  
The four of them managed to pile aboard. Shane propped Zachary up in the small medical bay in the back. Doc stayed in the cockpit, disengaging the umbilicals and firing up the drives.  
"I'm getting us out of range," said Doc. "GV, I hope those nav computers are up to spec."

They barely got out of range before a HUGE explosion sealed the tunnel they came through, and the entire asteroid palace started to cave on itself.  
Shane had strapped Zachary into a chair in the sickbay. He and Niko stumbled into the cockpit. "GV, get us out of here, NOW!"

"No argument from me, Sir Goose." GV said before engaging the hyperdrive and setting off for BETA. They were out of danger.

Shane, Doc, and Niko collapsed against a wall, panting furiously.  
"That was too close!" Niko said after she managed to catch her breath.  
"Yeah," Shane said, as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.  
"Tell me about it," Doc said, hanging his head down. "Too close if you ask me," 

The reports came in. The battle had been bloody, and the reports poured in. While they had caught the Queen by surprise, her troops had rallied quickly and fought back hard. Several members of the Circle had been lost as well, but as the Rangers rode back to Earth, they could at least take comfort in knowing that the Queen was gone forever. GV was autopiloting the ship back to BETA, as none of the Rangers were in any shape to pilot.  
The three of them managed to get up and walk back to medical bay. Their priority now was to the captain.  
He seemed to be oblivious to everything. The only movement he seemed to have made was to pull Eliza's crystal from his belt pouch, and put it on his lap. He stared blankly at it, not making a movement or sound on his own.  
Niko looked up. "Captain..."

Zachary only stared off into space.

Doc switched his CDU to read Zachary's physical condition as monitored by the implant. "Good news is that he's only got a few burns and bruises."

"Bad news?" asked Shane.

"Is that while I'm picking up a neural reading on him, it's nowhere NEAR his norms," Doc reported grimly. "Mentally, he's not there." 

"Psychocrypt?" asked Shane.

"No," Niko said with a frown. "Worse than that..."

"What happened?" asked Doc, getting out the emergency supplies needed to take care of the injuries.

"The Queen," Niko commented, with a deep sigh. "She tortured him...Done things..." An uncharacteristic frown crossed her face. "He survived by going mad."

"Hell of a way to survive," Doc grumbled, pulling out the medkit and using his limited field medical skills to patch some of the burns.

"The damage is extensive," said Niko. "She's all but destroyed his psyche. I don't know whether he'll be able to pull out of it."

"Well, he must have been crazy to do what he did," said Shane.

"He was," Niko said grimly. She straightened, then looked to her team mates. "You two, go get some rest. This is something I have to do on my own."

"You sure you'll be okay?" asked Shane.

Niko nodded. "You and Doc rest."

Doc left, but Shane stayed for a while. Niko sighed and slumped over. Shane walked over and took her in his arms.

Niko pulled him in close and hugged him tight, drawing comfort and strength just from his closeness. "Shane...I thought I lost you."

"Same here," he said.

Shane stiffened, and Niko turned around. She saw Zachary and winced.  
"I hope there's something that can be done," Shane said. "Maybe the doctors at BETA..." Niko shook her head. "Not with what I was sensing."

Shane knelt to examine closer. "He's cold, Niko. It's like he's dead."

Niko shivered, despite the warm setting on the life support controls. *How can I reach him?* Nothing she had said so far seemed to get through to him. When she *had* tried to touch him, he yelped and knocked her hand away.

Niko looked up. "He's frightened to come back. He believes that the Queen's still here, ready to kill him if he comes out of hiding. Soon..." she choked. "Soon, he will be dead. I can already feel the life in him fading."

Shane whipped around. "Is there ANYTHING we can do?"

Her eyes wandered as she thought, finally settling on the crystal Zachary held.  
*As his friend, you have the strength...*  
Niko's eyes widened, and she put a hand on Shane's shoulder. "Yes. There is something I can do. I'm not sure if it will work."

"What is that?"

"My Thought-Sensing Ability, Shane. I have the Gift, and the strength...if I can reach out with my mind..."

"Niko, are you crazy?! I'd lose you to whatever it his holding Zachary. You know you have trouble controling that...that thing. The Queen used it to rip both of us apart." He choked on the last sentence, his voice dropping. "I don't want to lose you to this, Niko."

Shane was right. Niko didn't know the capabilities of this new Gift quite yet. She knew that it worked, but she didn't know its limitations. She hadn't tested this ability very often, and when she had, it raged out of control. She had also been healed less than a day, and the battle with the Queen had taken a lot out of her. Doing this could easily undo all the healing Chrysalis had provided, and the possiblity of going insane was a definite risk.

Niko clutched the green crystal around her neck. "But I HAVE to try, Shane. I...owe him that much."

"And I owe him the chance to let you try," Shane said. "He's taken care of us. Now, it's time to take care of him."

Niko looked up.  
Shane reluctantly let her go, reaching out to give her cheek a caress. "Niko, I'll be back later. Go see if you can help him."

"I'll do whatever I can."

Shane disappeared to the back. Niko squared her shoulders and sighed. This would take a lot.  
As run-down mentally as she was feeling, Niko didn't know where she had found the strength to make it through the battle. Maybe it was because she had turned Adept, maybe it was partially due to Chrysalis, or maybe the reaction just hadn't hit her yet.  
Zachary looked awful. He stared vacantly into nothing, a truly horrified face looking out into some private hell. His skin was ashen, and he had his arms crossed, his knuckles turning white. He was bent in on himself in the chair, staying eerily still.  
Aloud, she tried to speak to Zachary one more time. "Zachary. It's over. She's gone."

Zachary continued to huddle and just stare at nothing. Slowly letting down her shields, she lightly touched his mind.  
*You're not gone. It was all a trick.* The thought-voice was not his normal, commanding tone. He sounded so weak and faint - almost like a lost child.

Niko sighed and centered herself, dropping herself back into a trance. With all she had, she reached out with her mind toward Zachary.

It was like walking into a whirlwind. Screaming emotions, maelstroms of pain...this went a LOT deeper than just these few weeks. There was nothing of what she knew to be him.  
*Zachary...*

*Go away!* came the yell. *Get out of my mind!*

Zachary sounded faint and muffled, as if far away. She tried to reach out for him, and he only retreated deeper into the chaos, blocking her attempts to come any further in. Niko just kept reaching. She couldn't give in, and let him be lost. Any longer, and he wouldn't have the strength to come out at all. But, the harder she pulled, the harder he struggled.  
With irony, she remembered the MindNet. Then, the captain's stubbornness and sheer hatred of the Queen was an asset. He readily opened his mind then. Niko hadn't anything past the vaguest Thought-sensing ability at that point, but she could remember the sheer force of will he could summon.  
*Zachary... it's Niko. I'm here to get you out, Captain.*

*Niko...* He seemed to waver for a brief moment, then the wall slammed down harder. *No! She's dead. You can't be her! You're just the Queen playing another trick!*

A strong psychic jolt hit her as Zachary summoned all his pain-fueled will to try and throw her out of his mind.

Niko fell back as contact was broken for a brief moment. She shook her head and examined Zachary again. The ashen pallor had grown worse, and the expression of fear had gone to blankness. At least fear had been SOMETHING...  
Niko pushed her own fear aside, regaining control. Now was not the time to bring more fear into an already devastated mind.  
"Zachary," she said aloud, hoping that something might get through. "I'm trying again. Don't give up."

She closed her eyes and tried again.

This time, things started to look less surreal. She was standing on a platform in what could only be the Queen's Palace. She had the impression of being put there artificially, of being "pasted into" actual memories. She was wearing the robes of a Slaverlord. Everything seemed to be frozen, like a still life. The Queen grinned wickedly at Zachary, who looked down into something going on the floor below.  
She tried again, *Zachary, this isn't real. What you're seeing isn't happening.*

Zachary didn't want to listen. Niko looked into the pit below, and saw herself, beaten and bloody. Everything seemed to be playing in slow motion now.  
"Zach, I tried...I tried..." the shadow image of her said, repeating like a computer simulation caught in a feedback loop.  
Zachary shouted at her. *You're THERE, Niko!*

She saw the Crown guard run her through with the lightsword, over and over.  
*It's you. You're dead.* His voice was choked and eerily quiet. *I let you die. I let you die...and I let Doc and Goose be thrown in the Psychocrypt...You're dead. I failed all of you.*

*But, Zachary, I'm NOT there! I wasn't there! Doc got me out of the palace. What you saw was just another of the Queen's tricks!* Niko tried to convince him, reaching out with her mind. Already, in the physical world, her hands were gripping his shoulders. *Zachary, reach out to me. I'm NOT dead...*

He almost reached out, then pulled his hand away.  
*Just let me go...* he said, resigned. Zachary looked up at her, pain on his face. *You've twisted my memories of Eliza, you've killed my friends...Haven't you done enough, Majesty? I can't fight you anymore - you've won. Are you happy now?*

The scene shifted again. Niko was still dressed as a Slaverlord. Zachary was lying on the floor, beaten bloody by a horde of guards. The kept beating him and kicking him, though it was obvious that he had been knocked unconscious. She gasped and tried to intervene, only to be held back by another Zachary standing beside her, looking on at his tortured self with shame.  
*I was too weak to resist.* she heard his thought filter through her.

The scene jolted and the guards disappeared. Zachary had a shard of sharp glass in his hand. He looked at his wrist, a somewhat confused expression on his face.  
*I was even too weak to die.*

If the words hadn't chilled Niko, the emotionless tone did. He hadn't been broken, he'd gone mad trying not to break, and that was even worse. She started to feel rage at when the Queen had done, but stuffed it down.  
She couldn't give up. If she did, then Zachary would be lost forever, running from his own mind for fear that the Queen was still invading, still violating his memories. Eventually, the small part of Zachary that managed to survive all the hells of the Queen would be suffocated by the pain, would exhaust itself and give in to the oblivion. She reached out for him, and managed to touch his hand.  
*Zachary, you aren't weak. You resisted. You're safe. You've survived...*

He pulled away, *No! you're playing a trick on me!*

Niko took heart and said, *Zachary, what about Jessi and Little Zach? Are you going to leave them without a father?*

That seemed to jolt him out of some of it. The wall didn't seem so impregnable now... The scene shifted again. A woman Niko knew to be Eliza was resting on a hospital bed, holding a small infant in a pink blanket. Zachary was younger, and a small boy stood by his side. Eliza and the children seemed frozen in time. Niko was slightly behind Zachary.  
*Yes, Zach. Your children. What about them?* Niko pressed in her advantage

He turned around and stared her down. *This is what I was...* he said, gesturing around. *Then...*

He started to push back, assailing her with his own memories...images rushed by, emotional photographs...sharp clarity, but with the constant, steady blur of pain. Everything jumbled together as she saw things through his eyes and emotions.  
...To the Phoenix being yanked out of hyperspace by Capt. Kidd.  
...To the searing pain of being hit with a blaster trying to escape...to collapsing in a shuttlecraft, trying to steer...seeing the *Phoenix* detonate with Eliza apparently still aboard...  
...To waking up in a hospital, every nerve burning, not knowing where the children were...then discovering that his left arm had been amputated at the shoulder and his leg had been amputated at the hip...To the sight of the gold and black prosthetics being brought out, and Q-Ball droning about replacement...The fear of turning into a machine...  
To seeing a red glass panel slide open, and finding Eliza's limp body...To seeing the crystal less than a meter from his feet sail upwards to the Queen's waiting palm and evil visage.  
...To the "funeral" as BETA put her body in stasis...to explaining to the children why their mother wasn't coming home...to crawling into a bed, reaching over, and feeling only cold sheets...  
...Then, to the dreams and nightmares imposed by the Queen. The nightmares that never let up. The jumbled fragments of distorted memories that Niko couldn't understand.  
Then to darkness.  
*No,* she thought to herself, defiantly. *Not when I'm finally starting to get somewhere.*

*Just leave me alone.* She could hear Zachary in the darkness, feel his presence. *I'm not coming out. Just go away.* 

*Are you just going to lock yourself in this dark little corner of your mind until you die?* Niko thought out.  
A pause.  
Niko felt the darkness closing in around her. She was starting to weaken, as the shadows pressed in on her, the Queen's evil cackle, the horrors...  
They threatened to drown her, overwhelm her with their evil and shadows. She made her presence glow even brighter, driving the shadows back, and the nightmares with them... She dug deep down into herself and found the strength to go on, but her strength was starting to falter. In the physical world, her body was beginning to tremble and sweat with the strain she was undergoing.  
She could sense him. So close...but they were about to push her away, and drown him. He was drifting further and further away, growing weaker.  
The shadows howled and cackled around her, dimming her light. She couldn't go any further, and it she was being overwhelmed. With as much as she had, she tried to pull out of his mind to save herself.  
*Oh, Gods!*

It was just as she feared. Instead of coming out of Zachary's mind, Niko was pulled further into the hell. She was going to drown. She was too far into his mind to return to herself. She was going to be swept away. They were both going to go mad...  
*ZACHARY!* she shouted, calling out with everything she had. *CAPTAIN, HELP ME!!!*

Just when it seemed that the shadows would finally drown her, she felt a presence...saw a light. Niko felt the presence helping her, fighting the shadows, but struggling.  
The light was coming from Zachary! He stumbled towards her. *Niko? Niko, is that you?*

*Yes, Zachary. Come back. I'm here to bring   
you back.* She tried to project emotion as well as thought with whatever strength she had left. He was astonished. *You really ARE Niko.*

*I'm here to bring you back, Zachary. You're safe.*

He still looked undecided.  
*Please. Zach Jr. and Jessi need you...Shane and Doc need you...I need you...* She continued, her voice growing weaker, *And Eliza needs you...*

*Eliza's part of her,* Zachary said bitterly.

*Zach, no. We have the Crystal. You saved her.*

He reached out and touched her. Already the shadows were melting. They still lingered, but the maelstrom had quieted.   
They were safe. *You aren't lying...*

She nodded. *No, I wouldn't do that. Not about this.* She gave him a faint smile. *It's safe now, Zach. Time to come home.* She started to drift away as she felt Zachary's presence grow stronger and stronger.

He whispered, *Thank you, Niko.*

Niko's strength was gone. She fell back into her body with a jolt. She was lying on the floor next to Zachary's chair. She pulled herself back into the chair, and nearly threw up as the blinding reaction-headache hit...  
But she had to know if she had been successful. He hadn't moved, and she couldn't see very well with the headache. She knew that she didn't have the strength to try again, and by the time she did...  
*Gods, I hope I didn't fail.*

A second later, she got her answer. His breathing increased, color and life returned to his face.

She looked up at him and said weakly, "Captain, can you hear me? It's Niko."

Zachary looked up. His voice was quiet, horase. "Niko? Is that you?" His eyes lost their vacant look and focused intently in on her.

She brightened a little, despite the fact that it hurt too much to smile. "Zachary."

He shook his head. "Oh God, Niko..." He seemed to take notice that, indeed he was on Ranger One. "I thought you were dead...How'd you escape? How did I get here?" He shook his head. "I was so sacred that it would all be a dream and that I'd still be with the Queen." "The Queen's dead, Zachary. You killed her."

He thought a moment. "I don't remember it."

"I'll tell you some other time," murmured Niko. "But right now, I think I'm going to pass out..." She proceeded to do just that as the blinding reaction-headache drove her under. She fell back into the chair, unconscious.  
"I think I'll do the same," he said tiredly, then looked down in his hand. He saw what he was holding. The red crystal pulsed with warmth. He held it up to the light, then his eyes widened with shock.

Just then, Shane emerged from the back of the ship. He looked at Niko in alarm and then in shock to his restored captain.  
"Captain?" he questioned. "What's going on here?"

Zachary ran his fingers over the face of the crystal, not really paying attention to Shane. "She's here. After all this time..."

"Yes, Captain. You finally got her crystal back." Shane answered, moving slowly forward. He still didn't have all his strength back yet.  
Finally, Zachary looked up. "How are you, Goose?"

Shane just stared at him in confusion for a moment as he checked out Niko. She was breathing steadily, at least. He answered Zachary's question.  
"I'm okay. What happened to Niko?"

"I'm not too sure. She pulled me back or something." He shook his head. "She also convinced me this rescue is genuine."

"I see," Shane answered.  
Shane brushed a stray lock of red hair from Niko's face, and seemed ready to lean in and kiss her, but broke away abruptly.  
Zachary looked up, and smiled feebly. "I know about the two of you, Goose, and I know how long it's been going on. It's all right. For what it's worth, I'm happy for you both."

Shane relaxed a little. "Thanks, Captain. I guess she and I weren't hiding it as well as we thought."

"Doc and I figure that it's not our business," His smile was just as faint as his voice, but also as clear. "Besides, I know what being in love feels like. Especially when it's the right person."

Gently, Shane picked Niko up, then turned to Zachary. "Are you going to be all right?" "I think so, in a little while." Zachary answered. "I know that it's over, though. The nightmare's over...Eliza and I are finally going to wake up." 

Shane nodded and vanished to the back with Niko.  
Then, forgetting all semblance of dignity and decorum, the proud captain laughed hoarsely, then started to cry like a child.

END

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